


Writhe Beneath My Touch

by Khalia81



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Dubious Consent, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Killing, M/M, Medical Experimentation, Medical Inaccuracies, Multi, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Rape/Non-con Elements, Violence, civil war never happened
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-06
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-25 04:28:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 13
Words: 31,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4946746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khalia81/pseuds/Khalia81
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While portal hopping on a mission, the team find someone that may just change their lives. As they grow closer as a team, as a family and as lovers, can they get through the storm that's coming, or will they regret their decisions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Dream?

**Author's Note:**

> Everything belongs to Marvel, I don't own any of it, except Alex she's mine. Please read the tags and warnings and if you don't like them then please do not read. Loki is on Earth working off his debt. I haven't posted here before so please don't be too harsh, but constructive criticism and tips are always welcome. I do work and go to college but I will post whenever possible. Tags will probably change as I get used it. There may be triggers so please be aware of that.

Making her way downstairs to the kitchen, Alex stretched long and hard, the hem of her t-shirt riding up to show a smooth mid-drift and a small black jewel of her belly button piercing. Alex hated mornings, she decided, stepping around the small kitchen table and its four seats to get to the kettle. Yep, she definitely hated them, especially since she hadn’t gotten to bed until four that same morning. 

With eyes barely wanting to remain open, she ran one hand through her hair, the untidy waves of dark red tangling a little around her fingers, while she flipped the switch to her kettle, listening to it start up and noting the blue light come on. Still on auto pilot, she picked a clean mug from the draining rack, gave it a quick rinse and then proceeded to put in her required coffee and sugar (three spoons of coffee, six of sugar). Her old friends from university used to say it was strong enough to strip paint.

She smiled softly to herself at the memories, before even that smile slipped and fell. It was a life best left behind. Before she had come here. Before she had changed. Still, the world moved on and she had as well. She had left her old life behind and had carved out a new one for herself. One that at least she would remember.

Lost in thought, in memories that were still unreliable, she stood in her kitchen, holding her mug in one hand and staring out of her kitchen window at nothing. She didn’t see the green grass of her lawn, not the warm brown wood of her fence. Didn’t register the colourful display of flowers nor notice the various insects buzzing around them. No, instead she saw bright head lights, heard the sound of screeching metal and felt the heat of flames licking at her skin. It was replaced quickly with voices that made no sense, hands restraining her when she tried to get up, then pale blue all around her. 

The sudden whistle of the kettle brought her back with a startled gasp and a quick flash of pain in her hand. Shaking confusing images away, she looked down and swore when she saw that she had broken another mug. With a grimace, she dropped the pieces onto the counter top, vaguely noting the mess of coffee, sugar and ceramic, before spotting the dots of bright red blood. 

Raising her hand so she could inspect the damage, she sighed, taking hold of the very end of the sliver of ceramic that was sticking out of the centre of her palm. With a deep breath, she pulled it out, swearing again, before rinsing her hand under cold water. Drying it off, she had enough time to note the unblemished skin, before she glanced up at the clock. 9AM. “Oh… fuck me sideways,” she muttered, dropping the cloth and hurrying back upstairs to get changed.

It only took her ten minutes to wash, change and brush her teeth, but it was ten minutes she didn’t have to spare. Pulling on her shoes, she opened the door, ready to go. It was a last minute thing, just a glance back to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, but that was all it took. She slammed into something hard, stumbled back and fell, landing hard on her back with a groan whilst staring up at her ceiling. She spotted the lime green patch and frowned. “Missed a bit,” she muttered, before her view was obstructed by a face.

**********

Thor looked up from the woman to his friends, who had each come inside to crowd the small entry way. He gave them a worried frown. “I hadn’t expected her to come rushing out,” he told them, before lowering his gaze again. “Has she lost her senses?”

Steve sighed, before going down on one knee, pressing two fingers against the woman’s pulse point. He felt relief when he noticed it was steady and strong. Then again, at the moment, that didn’t mean anything. They’d already been jumping through portals today, he didn’t need to add battering innocent people to his activities. Before he could reply though, agony blossomed throughout his face, more specifically, his nose. Even as he yelled and fell back, clutching his already bleeding and definitely broken nose, he registered the shouting and things breaking.

Blinking past the tears that filled his vision, he looked around, seeing the now broken side table, tipped over coat rack, and more importantly, the now unconscious woman laying beneath Natasha, her body still twitching a little from the stingers his friend had used. He raised a brow at Nat, which only earned him a shrug, before he sighed again. “Someone close the door.”

*********

Steve had to admit that he was tired. Not just tired, but bone weary. He knew full well that he couldn’t go on much longer like this. On the run, with no access to ammo or more resources. In a place that was both familiar and not familiar. They’d been warned though, before they’d made the jump, that things might look the same, but they sure as hell weren’t. And that was something they had all learnt the hard way. The moment they had come to this world, universe, or whatever it was called, they had all been on edge. 

Their surroundings had been pristine, the buildings newly built or at least well maintained. There hadn’t been many people out, nor much traffic. Those people that had been walking had very definitely kept their heads down, pointedly ignoring them and going on about their business. Even Thor had been on edge, mentioning that his brother had warned them to be careful. 

And so they had walked, more wondered about really, looking for anything that could be helpful. There hadn’t been a damn thing. No advertising signs, not stalls, no shops. Then things had gone seriously downhill the minute Tony had stepped into the path of one of the residents and tried to get information. Steve still shuddered when he remembered it.

Tony had been asking questions, the simple ones like where they were and what was the date and such. The resident had raised his head, his expression blank, before he’d opened his mouth. And not just opened it. Oh no, it had opened impossibly wide, and then there had been an ear splitting siren that had emitted from that resident, along with the word ‘INTRUDER’.

Steve had almost had a heart attack when Tony had raised his left gauntlet and blasted the resident. The only thing stopping Steve from chewing his friend out was the fact that the resident had promptly exploded into metal bits in front of him. And that had been their signal to run, to find safety and try and figure out what the hell was going on. Admittedly, he hadn’t expected to be invading someone’s home, robot or not. But this had been the first door they’d seen opening in over an hour of running.

And now… Well, now they were in someone’s home, doors locked, windows checked, his team sitting in the kitchen, some on the chairs, Nat perched on the edge of the table, each one of them with a hot drink in their hands, and each of them nursing aches. Steve took a drink of his own coffee, before speaking. “Alright, so what do we know?” he asked, his voice still sounding off to his own ears. Bruce had checked him over, re-set his nose, and told him he’d be fine. Steve already knew that, and sure he healed quickly, but it still throbbed.

“This whole fucking place is inhabited by killer robots,” muttered Tony, sitting at the table, resting his head on his arms and holding onto his drink for dear life. He’d already taken off the Iron Man suit, which now stood statue still and silent in the corner of the kitchen.

“Besides that,” Clint added. “Not a lot. We still don’t know where we are, or what the date is. We don’t know where is safe, or where isn’t. The couple of pay phones we passed didn’t even have a dial tone, and the ATMs were just… fake or for display.”

Nat nodded. “It’s like this entire place isn’t real,” she told them. “Like it’s some sort of movie set, or set for a play. With us being unscripted.”

“Well we need to get with the script and pretty damn quick,” Steve muttered, finishing his drink, noting Thor looking through the cupboards. “What’re you looking for?” 

Thor spared him a quick glance before opening up the fridge and picking out the bottle of milk. “Our host might be thirsty or hungry when she wakes. It is only fair that we accommodate her needs, as we are intruding.”

“Thor, big guy, our host is a robot. She’s not even alive.” Tony tried to tell him.

Thor frowned at that. “If that is so my friend, then why is there a half-eaten pizza slice and half-drunk coffee besides the toaster?”

**********

The first thing Alex registered as she came to, was the tingling in her fingers and toes. It felt almost like when she’d accidentally shocked herself on her TV the one and only time she’d tried to fix it. Twitching her fingers a little, she frowned as something else caught her attention. She could hear voices. Yes, she was sure she could. Even as her sense of hearing came back, so did her sense of touch, and she could feel the familiar softness of her sofa cushions beneath her cheek.

Moving onto her side caused her to let out a soft groan, and she cracked her eyes open a second, only to snap them shut again at the light that spilled in through her living room window. She pulled the pillow over her face with another groan, entirely unwilling to get up. Had she been drinking last night? No, she couldn’t have been. She’d been… She’d been working, she was sure of it. Images of text after text filtered through her mind and the memory of staying up well into the night at her computer screen flitted through her thoughts.

With a deep resigned sigh, she forced herself to release the sanctuary of her cushion and pushed herself into a sitting position. When she spotted the black trousers she wore, she scowled. Damn it, had she fallen asleep before she could get to bed again? She didn’t know. Bringing her feet off her sofa and to the floor, something caught her attention. 

Looking over at the small entry way, she noted that the small side table was missing from under her hall mirror, and the coat stand seemed wonky, listing to one side. Pushing herself to her feet, she wobbled a little, before regaining her balance. With mounting suspicion, she made her way to her front door, looking down and noting the odd small pieces of wood.

Memories of getting ready, being late, opening the door to go filtered through her mind. She remembered looking up at the ceiling, remembered a face, and then… she wasn’t sure. More dreams? She wondered, raising her hand to catch hold of the door handle.

“It’s locked.”

The words caused her to freeze, to literally become so still she actually held her breath. Eyes wide, heart picking up speed and beating fast in her chest, Alex slowly looked over her shoulder. As soon as she spotted the man, she flattened her back against the door, her hand still gripping the door handle and trying to twist it. Oh God, the man was right. It wouldn’t open.

She looked him over, seeing he wore dark trousers and what looked like a dark, hard vest thing with a dark purple arrow on it. Hell, she was so scared right now she couldn’t even describe clothes. She noted his short dirty blond hair before her gaze was drawn down to… Was that an arrow in his hand? She couldn’t stop the sound of a weak hysterical laugh, which broke off into a soft whimper. 

“Clint, you’re scaring her,” chided a red headed woman, stepping up besides the man Alex now knew was called Clint.

“I didn’t do anything!” Clint protested. Yet with a look from the red head, he sighed, threw his hands up and walked away back into the kitchen.

Alex tensed again, once again holding her breath as the red head walked closer to her.

“It’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you,” she told Alex. “We just need some answers, some help.”

Alex dared to breath and what came out was a squeaky “We?”

She watched the woman in front of her nod and give her a smile. “Yeah, me and my friends. Why don’t you come and sit down with us, have some coffee?”

Alex blinked at her in shock, before rubbing the heels of her hands against her eyes. “I’m going mad. I’ve finally snapped,” she muttered, before lowering her hands, only to see the woman still standing there. 

“I promise, you’re not going mad.”

Alex closed her eyes, forcing herself to take deep breaths. She knew she could do one of two things. She could either go with it or she could have a complete panic attack and freak out. Something in her made the decision for her and she looked at the woman again. “Three spoons of coffee, six of sugar, and milk,” she told the woman. The red head nodded, before turning and walking back into the kitchen.

Alex recognised what she was doing. She was giving her space, time to gather herself. And Alex did just that. Taking a few deep breaths, checking her hair was still tied up, and wiping her palms on her trousers. Straightening up, she took the necessary steps that would lead her away from the door and towards her kitchen. She needn’t have bothered to head that far, because the woman came out with her drink. “Here, you should sit down. You’ve had a shock and still look shaky.”

Alex accepted the drink with a nod of thanks, before she perched herself on the edge of her sofa. Taking a sip, she couldn’t help but groan in appreciation at the familiar taste, before she remembered why she was sat there in the first place. She watched with apprehension as the woman’s friend came filing into her living room. She watched as the red head and the one called Clint sat in her chair opposite the window on the far side, while the black haired man with the goatee and the two blonds settled themselves on the beanbags that she had lined up near the TV. She tensed a little when the man with dark scruffy hair and shirt sat on the couch at the far end. When he offered her a shy smile, her eyes widened a little, and tentatively, she offered him one back.

“I think maybe some introductions are in order,” the smaller blond spoke from his spot by the TV. “I’m Steve Rogers. This is Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, Natasha Romonov and Thor Odinson.” He indicated each person with a nod of his head. 

Alex looked them over. “Never heard of you,” she told him, gaining a surprised ‘What?!’ from Tony.

“Well, be that as it may,” Nat said. “Do you have a name?”

Alex frowned. “Of course I have a name.” At the silence that followed, she realised her mistake, and could feel her cheeks heating up in embarrassment. “Oh, right. It’s Alex. Alex Smith.”

“Well Alex,” Steve spoke. “Could you tell us where we are?”

Alex frowned at the question. At this rate, she’s get wrinkles before she hit thirty. “Sycamore Grove, Linington.” When she received blank stares, she rolled her eyes. “You know, in Shelin?”

“What part of America is that?” asked Nat quietly.

The question drew a confused look from Alex. “What’s America?”

She wasn’t sure what she’d said wrong, but from the shocked looks on their faces, then the scowls and sudden silence, she was sure it wasn’t good. She took a nervous gulp of her coffee, before she began to tap out a nervous rhythm on the side of her cup with her nails.

“Alex,” Bruce spoke, his voice quiet and calm. “Have you ever noticed anything unusual about other people here? Like your neighbours for example.”

Alex frowned and shook her head. “Not really no,” she told him. “Mrs Collins on the left is still moody and quiet. Mr Ankers on the right still gives me the creeps, staring all the time.”

“And what do they think about this place?” asked Tony, suddenly sitting forwards and resting his chin on a hand, his eyes narrowed on her. 

Alex shrugged. “I don’t know. We don’t really speak to each other. Like… ever.”

Tony nodded and leaned back, clasping his hands behind his head. “Thought so,” he told them. “They’re robots.”

Alex gave him a disbelieving look. “What?”

The sound of the telephone interrupted the conversation. Glancing at the clock above her TV, Alex groaned. She was late. Not just a little late for work, but horribly, three hours late. “I am so fired,” she muttered, getting to her feet and stepping around the couch, intent on answering the call. She almost jumped out of her skin when Nat grabbed her wrist.

“Just say you’re sick and won’t be in today,” Nat told her, following her. 

“I can’t lie to my boss,” Alex told her, picking up the phone. “Hello, this is Alex Smith.”

“You are late for work Miss Smith. Do you have a reason why?” came her boss’ voice over the phone.

Alex glanced at the people in her home. She could see how tense they were, watching her carefully.

“I…” she began, trying to sort everything out in her own head. “I…”

“Well Miss Smith? We are waiting.”

Alex closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath. “I am so sorry,” she told her boss. “I meant to call in earlier, but I’ve been sick. In bed all morning. I really am sorry, but if you could send my work through, I can do it at home and send it back by the end of the day.”

Alex chewed at her bottom lip nervously, waiting for an answer. When the dial tone came, she realised she’d been hung up on, and she pulled the handset away from her ear to look at it in shock, before putting it back on the receiver and letting out a shaky breath. 

“Well? What did they say?” asked Nat, causing Alex to jump a little.

Alex ran a hand through her hair. “I think,” she began, only for her laptop to beep. “I think it’s okay. They sent my work through.” She looked at Nat with a shrug. “Look, you’re here now. Not like I can force you to leave, so you might as well make yourselves at home. I need to see what work I’ve got.”

“Why don’t I give you a hand,” Tony suddenly offered, getting to his feet and sauntering over to her laptop that was resting on the small table under the window. “I’m something of a computer whiz myself.”

Alex chuckled. She couldn’t believe it, she actually chuckled. Yet she shook her head, taking her place at her desk. “I don’t know why you’d want to,” she told Tony, opening up her laptop, then clicking on the file she’d received from work. “I’m just a data entry clerk. It’s boring stuff really, all numbers and …”

“And what?” asked Tony, looking at the screen of what looked to him was just numbers of ones and zeros running down the page. He frowned when he didn’t get an answer. “And what Alex?” When nothing was forthcoming, he tore his gaze from the screen to look at the woman sat in front of it. His own gaze became concerned when he saw that Alex was just staring at the screen, not even moving save to breath.

Tony looked to the others. “Pack up, we’re leaving,” he barked out, already heading to the kitchen for his suit.

“Tony? What’s going on” asked Steve, retrieving his shield from behind the sofa.

“Whoever’s been chasing us is onto us,” Tony replied, stepping into his suit and allowing it to close him in. 

Clint stepped up besides Alex, crouching a little. He looked at the laptop, then at her, waving his hand in front of her face but received no response. “They got to her,” he muttered, looking her over. “Somehow, they… they managed to shut her down. Is she like the others?”

Nat looked up from where she’d been checking her stingers, and noticed something glinting out of the window. “Get down!” she yelled, grabbing Clint and pulling him to the ground with her. Not mere seconds later chaos erupted.

A stream of gunfire exploded through the window, shattering glass, electricals and embedding itself into the walls and doors. Nat held her arms over her head, protecting herself from the debris as best as she could. She couldn’t fire back, had ran out of bullets not long after they’d gotten into this mess. The same had been for Clint. He only had one arrow left, and they might need that later. 

As soon as it came, it ended. The silence was deafening. “Is everyone alright?!” shouted Steve, looking up over his shield that he’d used to protect himself and Bruce.

“Fuck,” muttered Clint, as he got up from his position and crawled over to where Alex lay. Seeing the stain of deep red on her chest blossoming and growing, he swore again. “Fuck! Bruce, we need you over here!”

Clint pressed his left hand down on the gunshot wound in Alex’ chest, even as he used his right hand to move the hair from her face. “Hey, hey, stay with us,” he told her, grimacing at the hot feeling of blood seeping through his fingers. Damn it, she was alive. She hadn’t been one of those robots, but a living, breathing, real person. 

“Hey, come on Alex, stay right with us,” he told her as Bruce dropped her side opposite him. “Come on, Bruce is here, He’s a doctor. He can fix you up no problem.” He watched Alex’s wide, terrified green gaze move to Bruce, before she began coughing up blood. Her hands scrabbled at his arms then his chest even as she tried to swallow.

Bruce gave her a strained smile, trying his hardest to keep control. He moved Clint’s hand away, pulling her blood stained blouse open to try and get a closer look at the wound. “Alex, Alex, you need to stay awake,” he told her urgently, noticing that she was beginning to drift. “Alex, keep your eyes open. Come on, you can do it.”

“We have incoming!” Tony yelled from the kitchen, even as the sound of the door being broken down and Tony’s repulsers firing followed Tony’s warning. The front door was treated to the same, the sound of feet stampeding in and Steve and Nat meeting the intruders in the hall. 

Bruce didn’t dare Hulk out. In such a small house, he’d run the risk of hurting his team mates, his friends. Instead, he concentrated on what he could do for the woman on the floor. She was already looking grey, the knees of his trousers already soaked with the blood she was losing. Her breathing had become stuttering, and he watched in panic as her eyes closed. 

“Come on Alex, wake up. You need to wake up!” Bruce urged.

At the same time he heard his name being shouted. “Bruce, look out!”  
 


	2. Enemy Territory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What have the team gotten themselves into? 
> 
> Please keep in mind the tags and that they may well change as the story progresses. Umm, non-con situation with Thor, maybe a possible trigger, so if you're uncomfortable with it please bare that in mind before you read.  
> Thanks

Steve breathed hard through his nose even as his cheek was pressed down harder in the carpeted floor beneath it. He didn’t understand how it had happened. They should’ve been able to at least get out, even if it hadn’t been unscathed. Instead, he grunted as his arms were pushed further up his back. They had been fighting, he knew that. And he thought they had been winning. But then someone had shouted grenade and there had been a blinding light and a horrendous sound that even now had left Steve’s ears ringing.

He bit the inside of his cheek to suppress a groan when he felt his feet being bound, and then his knees bent. The sudden tension on his arms let him know that they’d somehow connected his bound feet to his wrists, leaving him on his side effectively hogtied. He ran his eyes over his team, noting that they were facing the same predicament. Clint and Nat were both silent, fuming and glaring daggers at their captors, while Tony, who had at some point been ripped out of his suit, the pieces laying scattered over the room, was cussing up a storm but being ignored.

He strained to see Bruce and Thor, noting that both of them were unconscious, several metallic darts sticking out of their back, shoulders and neck. So that was how they’d managed to bring them down. 

The sound of several more footsteps entering had him tensing, and he raised his gaze to see men in white uniforms, their faces covered by surgical masks. One with a yellow badge stopped besides him and looked down at him for a moment before turning to the others. “Take them in for cleaning, then run everything on them,” he told his colleagues. “What about the subject?”

Steve looked over to where he’d last seen Alex. When he saw her, and the white suited man besides her, he narrowed his eyes. “Don’t touch her!” he shouted, angrily pulling at his restraints, muscles straining as he tried to break them. “She has nothing to do with this!”

When the man kneeling besides Alex shook his head and started to write down on what looked like a clipboard, Steve closed his eyes and swallowed hard. He’d gotten someone killed. An innocent woman was dead because of him. 

“Start over,” came the voice from the man besides him. “Sanitize the place, and start over. It is imperative that we control the situation now. Reset the droids. Fix the place up. And get these… things, back to the lab.”

Steve remained limp when he felt hard cold hands grip his arms and pull him up. He groaned again at the strain it put on his arms when the connecting lead from his feet to his wrists pulled taut. It didn’t matter though. He was still carried out, the light of outside almost blinding him compared to the stuffy, hazy interior of the house. 

When he spotted the black van he was being hauled to, he wanted to roll his eyes. How typical, didn’t they ever think of anything different? He wanted to slap himself when he saw the inside of the van. It was in compartments he realised as he was pulled up into it. No sooner did he enter than he felt the instant temperature difference. His breath already fogged out in front of his face, and he felt his heart kick up a gear as he realised that it was some sort of cold storage transport. 

As soon as he was put on his knees in the far corner, he began to struggle, yelling and shouting, trying his best to break free. They shoved him against the wall and the glass pane that slid down would have probably cut him in half if he hadn’t been quick enough to throw himself back against the wall again. Steve slammed his shoulder against the glass only to grunt when he rebounded. He tried again with only the same effect, before a thin white mist began to seep up from the bottom of his container.

Looking up, Steve could only watch as Clint, Tony and Nat were brought in as well. They were each put into their own compartments, and each had the same reaction. Worse so when their own compartments began to fill with the same mist. Steve tried to shout their names, but quickly discovered that he couldn’t be heard, nor could he hear them, so instead he tried to catch their gaze. Managing it, he was able to stop and think, and that was when he discovered that he was shivering. Shivering uncontrollably. God, it was so cold. 

He closed his eyes a moment, slumping against on compartment wall, before soft banging caused him to look up. He couldn’t hear Nat, but he could tell she was shouting for him to stay awake. He saw that each of them were shivering now too, little streaks of ice in Natasha’s hair, the ends of Barton’s hair and Tony’s beard. Steve shook his head, trying to keep himself awake.

He watched Tony slump first, and for a brief moment Steve though he’d died as well. The steady rise and fall of Tony’s chest however, let him know that he was still alive. He turned his gaze to Nat, seeing that she was resting against their joining wall. She gave him a strained, tired grin, as if to tell him that this was a normal everyday occurrence, before she too finally succumbed to cold and exhaustion.

Steve pressed his head against the glass wall, raising his gaze just in time to see Clint slump down. He shivered again, gave another weak ram with his shoulder, before he finally blacked out.

**********

Professor Eric Brown lifted his gaze from the electronic monitor readings in front of him to look at the subject that floated peacefully in the tank of blue amniotic fluid. He frowned as he spotted another flinch from the pale limbs. At least, the subject should be peaceful. He moved around the control panel to stand directly in front of the tank. Again he spotted the movement, this time in the fingers, as though it was an unconscious response to something.

“Carter, what do you make of this?” he asked, calling one of his colleagues over. “Twice now I’ve seen movement from it.”

Sam Carter, Professor Brown’s assistant, looked up at the subject with puzzlement. “Movement Sir?” he asked, before his own eyes widened as he spotted the fingers move again. “That shouldn’t happen.”

Professor Brown nodded. “What are the levels of sedation?” he asked.

Sam looked down at the hand held monitor in his grip. “Normal levels Sir,” he replied. 

Professor Brown looked from the readings in Sam’s hand back up to the subject. They had worked so hard to get this far, and should something go wrong now with it, they would have to start all over again with a new subject. It would take years, if not decades. “Increase the sedative by ten percent. Let’s make sure she has nothing but calming dreams.”

Sam nodded, watching his boss walk out before he looked back up at the subject. To think, they had been lucky when they’d managed to find her, almost half dead in the middle of a road accident. They’d mended her to the best of their abilities, which was when they’d noticed that they needn’t have bothered. It had left them pulling stitches out of already healed wounds, before she’d been moved here. 

At the siren and yellow flashing light that introduced new subjects, Sam made his way out of the room, leaving the woman in the tank sleeping. The hand held monitor controller was left behind on his desk. A mistake that he had no idea he would come to regret in the near future.

*********  
Thor’s eyes opened slowly, trying to blink away the blurred vision. He could see strobes of light passing quickly overhead, could vaguely hear people talking quickly. His head lolled to the side and he saw that he was being carried on what he assumed was a bed with wheels down some sort of long passageway. He tried lifting his head, but it felt so heavy, his mind so muddied. Trying to raise his hands proved ineffective too, yet it was when he felt the cold bite of metal around his wrists that he his annoyance turned to anger.

“Let.. me up!” he tried to shout, yet it only came out as a quiet rasp. “I am… Thor Odin..son…. You will….release…” His demand was cut short when blinding light was shone into first his left eye then his right. He felt the sharp sting of something piercing the side of his neck, then a cold sensation in that area. Soon after, he began to feel heavy, as though his body was turning to lead against his wishes.

The voices above him floated in and out of hearing, and though he was able to keep his eyes open, he found that he could no longer speak, the action alone too exhausting. He almost didn’t notice when they eventually came to a stop in a room so white it almost hurt his eyes. He could feel them tugging at his restraints, then at his very armour. He wanted to laugh out loud when he heard them cursing, unable to divest him of his armour.

That was until he felt cold metal against the collar of his chainmail. He could feel it cutting away at it, and eventually he was able to make out the moments as parts of his armour were stripped from him. As more and more of his body was exposed to the cold air, his skin pebbled and he felt a slight shiver go through him.

Thor wanted to growl, he wanted to spit curses and rage his fury at them, yet his tongue felt thick and uncooperative inside of his mouth. He watched with a distant curiosity as his arms were brought up over his head, the restraints on his wrists being connected to something. He felt his whole body moving then, being pulled up and off the bed against his will. The pull on his shoulders became a strain as his entire weight ended up hanging from his arms. He couldn’t even feel the floor beneath his feet. Unable to lift his head, he was just able to watch as a needle with a long clear tube was pressed into the inside of his left elbow and stuck there with white tape. He could barely gasp in surprised shock when ice cold water came from above and drenched him.

*********

Professor Brown watched with detached interest as the first specimen was cleansed. He took note of the feeble struggling, the way the large chest expanded in attempts to draw air, the pathetic but annoying way the feet kicked out. He pressed the small green button on the intercom attached to the wall. “Restrain the legs. We don’t want too much damage to either the equipment or the new subject before we’ve even begun.”

Brown nodded to himself in satisfaction as he watched his employees do as instructed, attaching padded cuffs around the male’s ankles and connecting the chain links to the hooks in the floor a foot apart. Pulling out the blank forms from the draw in the desk to his left, Brown began to write down the observations as his people worked on the specimen. He was a prime one indeed, strong, healthy, large. He took note of measurements shouted out to him as the male was scrubbed from top to bottom, watching as his tanned skin became flushed with the unforgiving treatment of the harsh scrubbing brushes.

It was the same process that was given to any subject they found. To be cleansed both outside and inside. He could hear the groans, followed by the slurred curses when the male’s privates were given the same treatment. Despite the sedatives being fed into the male, when the water hose was introduced into the male’s body, his shouts and struggles increased, until it deemed he’d had enough and it was removed. Brown wrinkled his nose in disgust at the waste that was expelled, but it was a necessary evil, and he ticked off his lists as the male was once again hosed down and scrubbed.

When it was indicated to him that the process was finished, Brown nodded, filing the paperwork away for later before exiting the viewing room. He knew that all save one subject would be partially conscious enough to know what was happening to them at the very same time as this one. He walked down the processing hall, looking through each viewing window to see their other specimens being cleansed. Only one of them was under constant heavy sedation. That one they would have to watch carefully. If everything went according to plan, they would end up making a fortune.

*********

Nat hugged her knees to her chest tightly as she lay on her side on the floor. She had no idea where she was, but she was beginning to think it could put the Red Room to shame. And she had a feeling they hadn’t even started with them yet. At the sound of a door opening, she dragged her gaze to the source, watching as first Clint, then Steve were pulled in and dropped besides her. Their captors went back out and moments later they brought Tony in, followed by Thor. 

When the door was closed and she was sure they weren’t coming back, she stretched out a shaking hand, her fingers hesitating only briefly before they touched Clint’s bare shoulder. “Clint… Clint, can you hear me?” Hearing him groan and seeing him flinch a little, she shook his shoulder harder, speaking a little louder. “Barton!”

She watched as Clint’s eyes snapped open and for a moment he stilled, before he turned his head and looked at her. He seemed to be sluggish, and she suspected it was the sedatives they’d been given for the cleansing process. His jaw worked for a moment, before he managed to speak. “N-Nat?” he asked, his voice rough, his speech hesitant. 

Nat nodded, letting out the breath she’d been holding with relief. “Yes Clint, yes, it’s me,” she replied, looking around at the sound of groans, noticing that Steve and Tony were beginning to come around. “Clint, did they…” She trailed off, unsure how to finish.

“Yeah,” he breathed, having to make an effort to just roll onto his side to face her. “Everyone here?”

Nat shook her head. “No. Bruce isn’t here. Alex didn’t make it.”

Clint closed his eyes, clenching his hands into fists and taking a deep breath. “Damit!” he cursed, wanting to hit the floor, but not yet coordinated enough to do so. “We got her killed Nat.”

Nat gave a short, sharp nod. “I know but… I thought I saw…” she frowned, trying to remember the haze of going through the corridors. “I was sure there was something.” In the end Nat sighed, shaking her head and managing to push herself up into a sitting position. Keeping her knees up and tight, she was able to hide what she could. 

“Give it a little while,” she told him. “You’ll be able to move properly again once the sedatives wear off.”

Clint managed to nod. “We need to get out of here. Whatever this place is, we don’t want to stay any longer than we have to.”

“We won’t be staying,” came Steve’s voice from a little further away. 

“What makes you say that?” Clint asked, even as both he and Nat watched Steve sitting up with a struggle. There were sometimes Clint wished he’d had the serum as well.

Steve couldn’t quite manage to hide his shudder as he thought of what he’d seen on his way down the corridors, strapped to that gunnery. He propped his elbows on his knees and looked over his shoulder at them. His blue eyes were dark with restrained anger when he spoke again.

“Because,” Steve told them, “I’m not ending up in some water tank on display.”


	3. Up To No Good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this might be a bit shorter than the others, but more will follow soon.

Loki paced and paced. He’d been waiting for hours for them to come back. Looking around Tony’s workshop, he threw himself onto the small couch, rubbing his fingers over his eyes. It had been several years since he’d had the misfortune of falling in with Thanos. And although incredibly agonising, Loki had never been more grateful for anyone to have pounded him into a floor before, as he was towards the Hulk. It had broken Thanos’ influence over him, but he had still had to answer for his part.

Then there had been his part in the battle against the Dark Elves with Thor. He had been regretful that he had put Thor through that, and devastated that he had lost Frigga. Yet when Odin had once again fallen into the Sleep, Loki had finally understood. When he had sat upon that throne, he had finally understood that the needs of others had sometimes had to be put above his own.

So he had ruled as Odin would have. Firm and fair, listening to his people before judging. Though Odin had been angry when he had awoken, Loki had managed, just barely, to explain his own actions. It was then that Odin had looked at him long and hard and Loki was sure he’d be for the chop. Instead, he had decided that Loki would serve out the rest of his sentence besides Thor, with the Avengers. Going to the aid of those who needed it. 

To say that Loki had been speechless had been an understatement. He had tried to argue, to reason that there was no way the Avengers, much less the rest of Midgard, would allow him that. Yet Odin was adamant. So, with that, he had been allowed to pack what he’d deem necessary for his new life on Midgard. Earth. He must remember to call it Earth.

Speaking of Earth… Loki sighed once again. He had not necessarily been welcomed with open arms, but at least he hadn’t been shot at or beaten. He would’ve hated to have started off with a few dozen corpses at his feet. Loki hadn’t had a complete change of character though. He still thought of Midgardians as weak, especially compared to himself or his brother. And true, he was still secretive and sometimes sneaky but… This he would never admit to any of them, but he saw the Avengers as perhaps an extension of family. 

Loki laughed at that thought. Family. What did he know of family these days? Apparently enough to be worried sick about their absence.

“Jarvis, how long has it been now?” 

When the response came, Loki tensed, still not comfortable with having to hear a voice with no body. 

“It has been almost twelve hours since they left Mr Laufeyson,” came Jarvis’ reply.

Loki sighed again. He had been feeling the odd pull, the sensation that something wasn’t right all day. When the Avengers had been called out, Loki had been apprehensive. A feeling that hadn’t left, even when the others had returned with reports of utter chaos in the East. Parts of building, landscapes vanishing, only to turn up again moments later withered and old, as though they hadn’t been kept for decades. 

It had led Loki to believe that there were dimensional rips, as Tony had called then, had been opened. Loki had thought that perhaps this is what he’d been picking up on. But no. It was only as one had opened in the middle of Tony’s workshop, slicing away parts of tables and partitions that Loki had known. It was not a thing that had been sending out feeling of need and desperation. It had been someone.

Alright, so Loki had failed to mention that when he’d watched them leave through that doorway. They’d probably think he was either making it up or that he’d gone mad. Again. So he had withheld that information. Now though, now he wished he had been more insistent that he go with them. From the moment they had left, he had felt all the tracers he’d put on then stop. They had simply stopped, and Loki had no idea where they had gone. It left him with a problem.

“Jarvis,” Loki called. “What is the likelihood that Fury will be angry that I left to go after the others?”

“There is an eighty nine percent chance that Fury will indeed be angry with you Mr Laufeyson should you leave,” replied Jarvis.

Loki was silent at that. If he stayed, there was no telling what the others were doing or where they were. If he went, he could possibly sense the tracers once on the other side, thus finding them. Decision made, he stepped in front of the portal that was still open. “Jarvis, if Fury should call, tell him I’ve stepped out.” He didn’t hear the reply, instead stepping through the portal. 

**********

Though it had been rough and the landing had been less than dignified, Loki stood in what he could see was a new town, he supposed it was called. He looked all around him, noting the perfectly cut grass, the well-trimmed hedges and trees, the pristine well looked after buildings. He took in a deep breath, frowning in thought at the odd taste to it. The artificial taste of it. Odd indeed.

Even as he looked around, he almost missed one important thing. The portal he had stepped through was not dimensional as they had first thought. He had not felt the familiar sensation of being pulled apart as he would when travelling through dimensions. No, he knew he was still on their Earth, but was now somewhere else in the world instead. Unable to spot the others as he was, he walked along the perfectly clean pathways, listening to the perfectly, sickeningly sweet melody of birds that he knew not to be real. Every now and then he would stop to touch the leaves or branches of a bush, frowning when he found that they were artificial.

Rounding the corner of a street, Loki sucked in a surprised breath, instantly becoming invisible. His frown intensified as he moved forwards on silent feet, watching as the humans worked. Though he knew they couldn’t see him, standing in such an open street with little cover put him instantly on edge.

At first Loki wasn’t sure what was happening. He watched the humans, dressed from head to toe in white, their eyes and mouths covered by white surgical masks and plastic goggles. They were carrying something out of the back of a large black van, something that was long and had the distinct body shape of a person. Never one to ignore his curiosity, Loki followed them into a large semidetached house, making sure that he was very careful not to accidentally bump into anyone or anything. After all he didn’t want to let them know he was here.

He made quick work of looking around, a brow raising in thought as some of the humans were scrubbing at what were clearly stains of blood, while others were replacing furniture that had been ruined or marked. His attention was drawn to the stairs of what Loki could clearly tell was a home as one of the humans spoke.

“Temperature and environmental changes have been put into place,” the male told another. “The area has been cleared, sanitized and replenished. When we’re ready, it’ll be 07:00 hours and we can start again.”

Loki bypassed the male to follow his own suspicion, climbing the stairs after the obvious body they were carrying up there. He remained silent as he slipped into one of the bedrooms and watched them transfer the body into the large bed, pulling off the white sheet and layering it over with several more bed sheets. Looking over the woman on the bed, seeing the chest rising steadily and the calm features, Loki frowned once again. There was something…. Something familiar about her, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Alright, everything’s set up and in place,” the human to Loki’s left stated, drawing the god’s attention away from the bed.

“Good,” replied another, this one wearing a yellow patch on the chest of his otherwise white suit. “Alex two will be ready to wake in about fifteen minutes. We need to make sure we’re not here when that happens. Go and get the van ready to leave, I’ll finish up here.”

“Sure. If the boss loses another one of these he’s gonna be pissed. Copies don’t come cheap or easy.”

Loki’s eyes narrowed at that. Copies? Could they possibly mean clones? He knew a thing or two about them. He waited until it was only the man with the yellow patch left in the room, before he moved quietly behind him, watching as he checked the female over, before tapping at a square device Loki recognised as a tablet. Obviously not one of Stark’s, he couldn’t imagine Stark letting people like these get a hold of one. 

It was perhaps pure chance that Loki spotted the next image on the tablet’s screen as he looked at it from the side. Loki neither thought nor hesitated when he saw Thor’s sleeping face on the screen. He grasped the man’s jaw and back of the head and twisted, the sound of the neck snapping almost loud in the otherwise quiet room. With a sigh of disgust, he dropped the now dead man. 

“Perhaps not the wisest of decisions,” murmured Loki, looking down at the dead human, before picking up the tablet he had carried. After several lessons from Stark about using this technology, he now put it to good use. Scrolling through the information, he discovered that not only Thor’s image was held on the device, but that of the other Avengers as well. With a little more reading, Loki found out they were to be subjects of some sort. 

Decision made, Loki pushed the dead body beneath the bed, before his image shimmers a little and in his place stood the white suited man with the yellow patch. With renewed determination, Loki made his way downstairs and out of the house, closing the door and heading for the van. He had a plan of sorts. Well, he would do once he had found the others. 

From what he had discovered himself, this place was definitely not a different dimension. Everything was too artificial, and he suspected even the sky was as well. It was as if it were some sort of dome or facility that could produce images or surroundings that were certainly not real. So this place was man-made. For what reason though?

Once inside the van, he gave the order to leave, using the dead man’s voice, before he leaned against the wall of the van slightly. He didn’t speak, instead opting to listen to the other two seated opposite him as they talked about mundane things, such as meetings and meals. What did catch his attention though was when they started talking about life on the outside, causing Loki to inwardly frown. So his theory was correct. They were indeed inside, but inside what?

That was when he felt it. It was very faint, but it was definitely there. The connection he had to the rest of the team. Wherever they were headed, it was taking him closer to the Avengers. And closer to whatever had made contact with him in the first place.

**********

Professor Brown looked down at the monitor on the sanitation team, noting the flat line on team leader’s bio feed. “And you say it went dead ten minutes ago?” he asked his assistant, Carter.

“Yes Professor. Whatever happened Thomas is now dead. However, the report from the team confirms that all members are on their way back.”

Brown knew it would be another hour before the team arrived. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully before speaking. “Prepare assessment room one,” he told Carter. “I want Barton in that one first so we can get a baseline for the others.”

“Of course Sir. And the other subjects?”

“Make it very clear to them all that unless they cooperate, their actions will have direct consequences on their team mates. After all, we don’t need a leg to study a lung.”

With a nod Carter activated the comms system, giving the order. Brown directed his gaze up to the monitors of the holding room to watch what would happen, even as he gave his next order.

“Carter, prepare a welcome comity for the sanitation team when they arrive. Decontamination One.”

Though Carter gave him a curious glance, Brown ignored it. Aside from the untimely arrival of the Avengers, everything was moving along nicely. The original project was progressing, they were harvesting more from it and managing to duplicate it. True, they’d only produced two so far. The second had been put into place while the first had been cut down. But they were getting there. Another few weeks and they could start mass producing. Countries would pay a fortune for stealth weapons that could come and go undiscovered.


	4. Deeper Underground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors are my own sorry

Clint grunted as the barrel of the gun jabbed into his back for a second time. It wasn’t bad enough that he was cuffed, but they hadn’t even given him any clothes to walk down the long corridors. He held back a shudder at the memory of how they had managed to get his cooperation so easily. He and the other Avengers had been discussing how best to form an escape when there had been a horrendously loud noise. Clint couldn’t have described it as a buzzing or beeping, it had just been constant and so loud that despite slamming his hands over his ears it had still hurt. The light that had followed had almost blinded him and the others, despite having their eyes closed.

When everything had finally gone quiet again and the burning light had dimmed, Clint had been left with the ringing in his ears that even now was still slightly present. Then the door had opened and over a dozen armed men had come in, each lining up against the wall, their weapons aimed straight at them. Despite being naked and without weapons, Clint’s body had tensed for a fight. He knew the others had been the same without having to look at them. And then one of the armed men had stepped forwards.

“Agent Barton,” the man had spoken, his voice definitely cold, even bored. “You will come with us.”

Clint had snorted at that and Steve had refused to let him go anywhere. Clint had just had a second to glance at his team before the shot had rung out. Tony had cried out, grasping his left hand, now bloody, even as he dropped to his knees. The team had begun shouting, Thor had taken a few steps towards the gunman, only to stop when the rest of the armed men had raised their own weapons, their aims specifically on Tony, Natasha and Clint himself. Clint hadn’t needed the shooter to make his intention clear, but he had done anyway.

“The next one will be Stark’s other hand,” they’d been told. “Any actions you take will have consequences Avengers. Remember that.”

“Stop this!” Clint had barked out, his own hands curled into fists at his sides. “You don’t need to hurt anyone. I’ll come with you.”

There had been a moment’s silence before the gunman had nodded. After that, there had been a tense silence while Clint had ben cuffed and lead out, hoping that his team would somehow manage to stop the blood flow from Tony’s wound.

Clint now stared straight ahead, keeping his jaw clenched shut just in case something he said set the bastards off again, sending them back for the others to finish the job. There wasn’t anything interesting about the corridor they walked him down. It was just a sterile white, the floor cold to his feet. What had him taking more interest though was the fact that there were eight armed men stood guard outside one door that they passed. Clint kept his smirk to himself. That could only mean Bruce was in that room. Maybe, if they could somehow get to him, they could blow this joint.

Clint’s thoughts were derailed when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, bringing him to a stop. It didn’t release its grip on him, even when a door to his right was opened and he was pushed inside. He just managed to get a glimpse of a large steel table before more hands gripped onto his arms. He was manhandled and turned around, before being dragged back. Clint didn’t make it easy for them. He saw no reason to do so. He wasn’t stupid. He knew what that kind of table was, and he sure as hell didn’t want to be on top of it. 

His struggles and cursing went ignored though, and more hands gripped onto him, lifting him off his feet. He kicked out, managing to land a few blows before a fist to his diaphragm had him doubling up and gasping for breath. He yelled out as he felt the cold metal table against his back, flailing some more before his arms were pulled up above his head. Clint barely heard the click of the locking mechanism that attached his cuffs to the table. He was too busy trying to kick away the hands that had gripped his ankles and knees, pulling them apart and pressing them down. 

Cold metal bit into his skin at both ankles and knees, and the hands were removed. Though he tried, he couldn’t bring his legs closed, and for the first time since he’d woken up, he felt vulnerable. Thick heavy straps were fastened across his waist, upper thighs and chest, while another two were fastened over his throat and his forehead, making sure he couldn’t lift his head. Throughout all the struggling, Clint hadn’t managed to get a proper look around at his surroundings. Now he wouldn’t get the chance unless they decided to release him. 

Gloved hands gripped his chin as something hard pressed against his mouth. He resolutely kept his jaw clenched shut, refusing access and causing whatever it was to cut against his lips. Fingers pressed in at the hinge of his jaws and against his will his mouth opened allowing them to slot something hard, round and cold in behind his teeth. The strap was attached to the table, further restricting his movements and Clint was left breathing raggedly through the metal ring in his mouth, his nostrils flaring in anger and his eyes spitting hate. 

Unable to look at much else save for the white ceiling above him, Clint startled when a head suddenly appeared in his sight, the face hidden behind a surgical mask and clear plastic eye protection. 

“Despite your earlier cleansing Agent Barton, this room is a sterile environment,” the surgeon told him blandly. “As such we can’t have you lose control of any bodily functions.”

Clint had a second to think before he felt something cold and wet pressing between his arse cheeks. He tensed, straining against the straps that held him down, trying as hard as he could to loosen them if not break them. His struggles intensified when he felt something hard and unrelenting pushing against his entrance, and despite how he tried, he couldn’t stop the sudden garbled yell at the feel of whatever it was pushing through the clenched ring of muscle. His entire body shuddered as the cold hard object moved up into him and it felt as though it were pressing impossibly deep, before it finally came to a stop, leaving Clint breathing hard and sweating.   
When latex covered hands took hold of his flaccid dick, Clint squeezed his eyes closed. He had a moment to feel the coldness of lubrication, before it felt like they were splitting his dick apart from the inside. The scraping pain travelled up and up until it seemed to pop before they released his penis. By the time it was done, Clint was breathing hard and beginning to shiver. Despite the tortures he had suffered in the past on the odd times he’d been caught undercover, he couldn’t really say that anyone had been this inventive. 

“Now Agent Barton,” the surgeon told him, his voice almost amused at Clint’s state. “Let’s begin shall we?”

Clint managed to catch a flash of steel at the edge of his vision before he closed his eyes.

********

Thor blinked against the sweat that stung his eyes as he stared down at Tony’s injured hand. He kept his breathing very carefully controlled as he concentrated hard. Unlike his brother, he wasn’t well versed in magic, but with Loki’s help, he had begun to learn some basic healing. Very basic indeed, and it took much concentration from him to be able to direct his new found skill properly. He watched the last signs of the Tony’s injury fade away before he let out a breath, releasing Tony’s hand. 

“There, it is done,” he told Tony. “It will ache for a while, but at least you will have full use of it again.”

Tony nodded, pale and shivering a little. “Thanks,” he grunted, before pulling his hand back to cradle it against his chest. “Those bastards know what they’re doing. They used us against you and Steve, knowing full well your reaction.”

Thor nodded. “Aye, but they do not know what Loki’s reaction will be,” he told him, with a dark look. “I dare say he will not be pleased once he realises what is going on.”

“And what’s that then?” asked Steve. “Ever since we came here, we’ve been running. We haven’t a clue where we are, or how to get back.”

“More to the point,” Natasha added, her frown fierce. “Where do you think they took Clint? We still have to find Bruce and in a place we don’t know, we could be searching for hours when we get loose.”

“If,” Tony added quietly. “You mean if we get loose.”

“Tony…” Steve began, but Tony shook his head, cutting the other man off.

“Stop kidding yourself Steve,” muttered Tony. “They know. They know we wouldn’t let anything happen to each other. They know full well that we’ll behave if it means that no one else gets hurt. We haven’t seen anything of Bruce yet, and let’s face it, we wouldn’t miss the Hulk tearing about. And now Clint is gone, and we don’t even know if they’ll bring him back, let alone in what state. So unless you have some secret plan to get out of the room, get weapons and get our friends back before blowing this place to hell, it’s not a question of when we get loose. It’s a question of if.”

They didn’t want to admit it, none of them did, but they wondered if Tony might be right. 

“Then what do you suggest we do?” asked Natasha quietly.

Tony glared down at his newly healed, blood stained hand. “We know what to expect the next time they come. And they’ve got to bring Clint back, especially if they want us to be the good little preforming monkeys for them. So let’s give them what they want. We stay calm, and we stay out of trouble. At least until have more information. After that, all bets are off and this place goes sky high.”

“You have a plan,” Steve stated quietly.

Tony’s grin was almost feral in his anger. “The doors are mechanical, which means wiring. If I can gain access through the wall panels close to the door, I could short circuit them and perhaps if we’re lucky, they’ll open.”

Steve nodded. “As soon as you think you can then do it. We’re getting our friends back.”

********

Loki really should’ve known it wouldn’t be as easy as he’d thought. Simply taking the guise of one of their own and travelling with them to their base, pretending to be one of them. It should’ve been simple, yet it hadn’t. When the van had eventually come to a stop and the doors had opened, the entire team had been surrounded by an almost sea of armed men. One by one the men he’d travelled with had been stripped, watched carefully, before they had been allowed inside. When it had come to Loki’s turn, he had calmly gone through the procedure. It had only been when he had passed through the entrance of the building that he had been brought to a stop.

It had been an odd sense, a feeling that had trickled down from the base of his skull to the bottom of his spine that had alerted him to a problem. As though something had just given him warning. It had been enough for Loki to drop his guise and deal with those that had surrounded him. He hadn’t thought twice about taking their lives, drawing his blades and cutting into human flesh. He had allowed himself to vent some of his own frustration and worry on them, and within only a few minutes he was one the move, leaving dead bodies behind him. He didn’t know why, and never one to question his own instincts, but he followed that feeling, the one that had just most likely save him from gaining a few extra pounds of lead. Down corridors, around corners and through doors he went, barely pausing to deal with those who stood in his way.

Coming to a junction in the corridor, Loki hesitated. On one hand he could feel where the others were. On the other hand, he could also feel what had connected him. What had essentially saved him from the bullets. Curiosity got the better of him and he turned left, heading towards that foreign feeling. Even as he ran, he gathered his magic. His eyes narrowed on the guards that had spotted him, eight of them, each raising their weapons. Loki didn’t hesitate to release his magic, cutting them down and a dark grin of satisfaction. 

Reaching the door he raised his foot and using brute force, he kicked into it, surprised when it gave so easily. He’d have thought that it would’ve been harder to get in. It was only when he was inside the room and he came to a stop, that he realised the door had been there to stop things from getting out, not getting in. And what a thing it was. Lowering his blades a little, he moved closer, stepping up the large glass tank. Though the water was blue, he could clearly see something inside of it. Slipping on dagger away, he raised his free hand, pressing it against the glass and watched in fascination as the thing inside of it seemed to uncurl from the foetal position. 

In the same moment that golden orbs opened up, the sound of a gunshot cracked through the air.


	5. Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May be a trigger in this chapter so please be aware, also description of gore, though not much.

“Fucking bastard!” 

Tony stuck his burnt fingertips into his mouth in a poor attempt to take the sting from the electric out of them. He didn’t know how long he’d been trying to get the door open. Hell, he wasn’t even sure how long they’d been here, wherever here was. What he did know was that they hadn’t brought Clint back yet and he hadn’t seen any sign of Bruce. Giving his burnt fingers a quick shake, Tony sighed. It should have worked by now. He should have been able to get the door open but he hadn’t. He closed his eyes briefly when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

“It’s alright Tony, take your time,” Steve told him, giving his shoulder a quick squeeze. 

“We might not have time,” Tony told him, taking hold of the wires. “Clint’s not back. God knows what they’re doing to him. And none of us have seen Bruce. You sure you can’t call that hammer of yours?” He directed his question to Thor.

The Asgardian shook his head. “I have tried. Something is preventing Mjolnir from hearing me.” 

Each one of them tensed as they heard the distinctive sounds of the locking mechanisms of the door begin to release. Tony held his hands up and shook his head even as they moved back. “Wasn’t me,” he told them, backing up further as the door opened. 

It was no surprise when the door opened, armed men coming in first and making them back up several paces, guns trained firmly on the team. Who the Avengers had come to realise was the leader of those men also stepped into the room, thick metal cuffs in his right hand. “Step forwards Captain,” he ordered coldly.

Steve didn’t even think about not doing it. When his friend started to protest, he gave a short, sharp shake of his head, but didn’t look at them. Without a word he raised his fists in front of him, gritting his teeth in anger as he was turned around, his arms being pulled behind his back and the restraints being locked around his wrists. Looking at his friends he could see the barely restrained anger in each of them. “See you soon,” he told them as hands gripped his arms and turned him about, leading him out. He didn’t say anything while he walked. He refused to try and talk to these men. So he was surprised when their leader spoke. 

“So you are Captain America. The poster boy for all that is good and decent in the world.”

Steve stayed quiet, not even glancing at the man. His silence earned him a kick to the back of his left knee, causing his knee to buckle and for him to grunt in pain as he went down, only for the same hands that restrained him to keep him on his feet. He glared at the leader who stepped in front of him.

“Don’t worry, your friend will be sent back soon,” he told Steve. “For now, we’re to get you ready.”

A door to Steve’s left opened and he was marched inside, being manoeuvred to the centre of the room. Quickly looking about, he grit his teeth when he spotted several people in white lab coats with clipboards. When he caught sight of what he realised was a collar, he reared back, barring his teeth in fury, only for harsh hands to grip him by the hair and force his head forwards. Steve had to force himself not to fight, the memory of Tony’s bloody hand with the hold gaping through it fresh in his mind. He couldn’t afford to give them a reason to hurt the others. 

With that in mind, he allowed them to lock the collar into place, the cold metal pinching into his skin and making swallowing uncomfortable. He heard more than saw the length of chain being lowered from the ceiling above him. At tug at the back of his collar and an audible click let him know the two had been locked together. He huffed out a grunt when his bound fists were pulled up, another clicking sound following before the two men who had held him in place stepped back. 

Steve gave an experimental tug on the chain and he felt the collar around his throat tightening before he raised his hands a bit more to release the pressure against his throat. He almost lost his balance at the unexpected kick to the inside of his ankles, forcing him to move his feet apart. The action alone caused the collar to press into his throat again, but before he could stabilise himself cold metal was snapped around his ankles, forcing him to keep his feet apart.

“The docs have a few tests they want to do with you,” the leader told him, walking around Steve, his tone thoughtful. “They want to see how much you can endure to certain stimuli.”

Steve couldn’t stop the flinch at the unexpected hand as it touched his left shoulder. He turned his head, glaring at the man. “Let my friends go,” he almost growled.

The punch to the gut was no surprise and Steve almost choked himself when he tried to curl forwards to make breathing from the hit easier. It took effort for Steve to make himself straighten up again, clenching his jaw and keeping his eyes looking straight ahead.

“Let me make something very clear,” the bastard told Steve, trailing his hand down Steve’s side. “Whenever you misbehave or don’t do as you’re told, it’s your friends that’ll suffer for it. Maybe we’ll start with Stark. Or perhaps that redhead, Romanov.” He stepped right in front of Steve, locking gazes with him. “Either way, we’ll get what we want.”

Steve cut himself off from replying when he saw the man in front of him nod. He swallowed against the restrictive metal around his neck when he felt the gloved hand on his hip.

**********

The silence that followed the gunshot was almost deafening. The pain that blossomed out from his left hand where the bullet had not only struck but had gone through, was almost as white hot as his fury. Loki turned with a growl, taking the few steps needed to grab the stupid human by the throat and lift him off his feet. “You pathetic, worthless creature!” spat Loki, giving the human a shake. Even as Loki spoke and tightened his grip on the man’s throat, he noticed something. 

With narrowed eyes, he looked over the human’s face. Yes, there was fear there but… it was more than fear. It was terror. Loki might have grinned at that if it weren’t for the fact that the human’s eyes weren’t even on him. Following the man’s gaze, he saw that the bullet that had struck his hand had not only gone through the flesh and bone, but also through the thick glass of the tank, leaving water streaming out and cracks in the glass webbing outwards.

Loki glanced from the tank, to the human and back again, before he moved, taking the human closer to the damaged container. That was when the human really began to struggle, and to babble and to beg. It might have bored Loki if not for the fact that he was curious as to what was in the tank. He pressed the human up against the glass, near the hole, making sure to reposition his grip to the back of the man’s neck.

“Was it this you were aiming for?” Loki asked him, waving his already healing hand within the man’s vision while relenting slightly on his grip around the man’s neck. “Or was it perhaps this container?”

“P-please… please… We have to go. Let me go, please. Let me go or kill me!”

Loki raised a brow at that. He moved the human’s face closer to the hole in the glass, then wrinkled his nose as he detected the distinct smell of urine. Whatever was in the tank the human feared it more than Loki. He wasn’t sure whether to be insulted or not. 

Loki hit the glass near the man’s face, watching as it cracked some more, causing the male to start crying, sobbing out his pleas. Looking around the room, Loki spotted what he could guess was some sort of control board in the corner. He’d missed it on the way in. Making sure to restrain the man exactly where he was with his magic, Loki moved over to the controls.

There were various buttons and switches and levers. Some had labels, some dials and others there were green lines on a black screen, dipping and rising every moment. Reading a label that said ‘Sedation’, Loki placed his fingers on the dial and began turning it to the left. He watched the numbers attached beneath the dial as they decreased until finally they reached zero. 

Looking back at the tank Loki frowned. Nothing seemed to be happening. He was about to lower his gaze again and begin turning other dials when the human’s begging increased.

“No! No please. No! NNYYIIIIIAAAAAHHHHH!”

Loki leapt back from the controls, unsure of what was happening to begin with. It was only as the human’s screams began to die down and his body began to convulse where it was hanging against the glass that Loki realised that whatever was in the container was doing it. Moving around and back to the container, Loki studied what was happening, watching as something black squeezed itself from the small hole straight into the man’s mouth and nose.

Loki was fascinated, watching as the thick liquid flowed easily into the human. He could see it working its way down the man’s throat, the human flesh there bulging and pulsing. He could spot the man’s gut beginning to distend and grow, before Loki had to jump away as the human’s body was literally torn apart from the inside. He had to raise an arm, throwing his shield magic up to prevent from being hit by the resulting gore.

Raising his head, Loki saw that whatever the black thing had been it was now gone. Though he may be curious, Loki was also cautious and it was with great care that he moved closer to the tank, magic at the ready should he need it. He paused as he heard machinery beginning to move, the hiss of hydraulics following. With a quick look back he saw that the human’s heart had landed on the control board. 

Something opened inside the tank, some sort of vent at the bottom. Loki watched as the level of water lowered more, and continued to lower. Wires and tubes became visible, and he saw them pull taught, before he spotted something near the bottom of the container. Inch by inch the inhabitant was revealed. Dark red, soaking wet tangles, followed by pale skin and slender limbs. Various wires were attached, some even leading into it.

When no movement came save for steady breathing, Loki stepped back and raised a hand. With slight concentration he watched as the glass cracked and splintered throughout, before he pulled it away with his magic, ignoring it shattering around him in favour of stepping closer.

“Well, well. What a prize,” he murmured softly.

**********

“Yes!” crowed Tony as the door to their holding room swept open. His glee was instantly dampened when the loud siren began blaring. He shrugged. “Alright, that might have been me.”

“I don’t’ think so,” Natasha told him as several guards went running past them, ignoring them. “Something else has set it off.”

“Does it really matter when we should be leaving also?” asked Thor, stepping out into the corridor, grinning as he raised his hand. He could feel Mjolnir, his weapon already coming closer. When it burst through the wall besides him and landed in his palm, Thor wrapped his fingers around the grip, his look unforgiving. “It is time to find the others right?” 

“We’ll have to split up,” Natasha told them. “They might have been taken in completely different directions.” 

“That won’t be necessary,” came Loki’s voice from behind them, causing them to turn and stare at the dark haired god, and more importantly, who was stood beside him in his overcoat. “I already know where they are.”

“Is that..?” began Tony, only to trail off uncertainly.

Loki nodded. “Yes. This is what has set the base in alert. I found it in one of the medical research rooms. A sorry state to begin with, but stronger now.”

Tony couldn’t believe his eyes. He stepped closer, only to freeze when the huddled figure moved closer to Loki’s side. He couldn’t quite see the face, hidden behind long red tangles, but he was sure…

“Alex?”


	6. Welcome The Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just want to say thank you for the lovely comments and I hope you enjoy reading. There is some gore in this one, though I hope not too much for you as there's bound to be more later.

“Alex?”

At Tony’s question, Natasha can see the woman tense beneath Loki’s coat. She doesn’t miss the way one of Alex’s pale hands reach for Loki’s arm, her knuckles turning white as her grip tightens. What’s more, she doesn’t miss the way Loki winces at the woman’s action.

“It’s alright,” Loki tells the woman quietly, gently prying her hand loose and taking it into his own. “They won’t harm you. These are my friends I was telling you about.” 

Seeing amber eyes looking up at them, Natasha raised a brow. The Alex they’d had to leave behind had had green eyes. Yet this woman… Those odd amber eyes seemed to glitter with curiosity, as though she were seeing them for the first time. Natasha had to look away and instead she directed her gaze to Loki. “You said you knew where the others were?”

“Well, not me personally,” Loki replied, his answer causing Nat’s stomach to drop a little. “But she does. Isn’t that right my dear?”

Natasha watched as Loki stroked his free hand over the woman’s head, earning him a soft nod and a rub of the cheek against his palm. The expression on Loki’s face was possibly something she had never seen before. There was…tenderness there. 

The heavy sound of running boots heading towards them wiped the expression from Loki’s face and Nat watched as it was replaced with rage. Though each of them readied for the oncoming fight, Nat was very aware that Loki kept the woman behind him at all times. Before they knew it, the corridor in front of them and behind them was blocked by heavily armed men. Loki stood at the front while Thor was at the back, his weapon ready. Natasha was no fool. She knew the probability of coming out of this was slim to none as they were.   
“Lower your weapons and hand over the experiment!” one armed man barked.

Despite the aggressive order and the threat that the men obviously posed, Natasha heard the slight waver in the man’s voice. She saw the nerves ripple through them. They were afraid. Not surprising really now that now only Loki had arrived, but Thor was also armed again. 

“We’re not handing anything over!” snapped Tony, only to flinch at the sound of a gun going off.

It seemed to be the signal the other gunmen were waiting for as they too opened fire. Natasha threw her arms up as fast as she could, fully expecting to get hit. When she wasn’t, she gradually lowered her arms to see the bullets hitting Loki’s shield magic. When she looked at Loki, he met her gaze. Though there was determination there, she could also see the strain that the shield was exerting on him. He’d already explained to them that his magic was for the time being limited until he could earn it all back, but she hadn’t really believed him. Until now.

“What do we do?” she asked, her voice almost drowned out by the sound of the continuous gunfire. 

“Thor?” asked Tony, only to earn a shake of the thunder god’s head. 

“I cannot, not in such close quarters. I would end up hitting you each as well.”

“Someone needs to do something,” muttered Loki, inching back a step. His normally invisible shield shimmered green, showing signs of weakening. “I can’t keep this up forever.”

Nat just managed to see the first crack in the green shimmer at the same time she heard the loud shot of a sniper rifle. It was as though things were happening in slow motion. The bullet from the rifle broke through part of the shield and embedded itself into Loki’s upper right chest. The trickster stumbled, causing the woman he’d brought with him to turn to him. Even as he went down, the woman helping him go, Loki kept one hand raised, trying to keep the remainder of the shield up. Then things sped up again.

Thor knelt beside Loki, pressing his big hand against the bleeding wound even as he took the woman’s place in supporting him. “You fool!” Thor hissed, shaking his head. “You already made me lose you once. What were you thinking?!”

Loki gave his brother pained grin. “Incentive,” he told Thor, causing the others to look down at him as though he’d lost his mind again. 

“What’re you talking about?” demanded Tony. “Don’t you think we had enough incentive to get out of here as it was?”

Tony narrowed his eyes as he looked first down one end of the corridor to the other. He wasn’t sure but… yes, there it was. The lights were flickering at the far ends. He almost snorted at the thought of the shoddy technology their captors had. He was even about to comment on it when the first lights at either end suddenly flickered out altogether, throwing the far ends into pitch black. 

Edging closer to the shield to get a better look, Tony quickly rethought his decision when the gunfire was suddenly turned away from them, into the darkness. One by one the lights flickered, before going out. Many of the gunmen dropped their weapons and scrambled forwards, trying their hardest to stay within the diminishing light, some even pounding against the weakened shield.

Tony moved closer to the middle of their group, closer to Loki. “It wasn’t for us was it?” he asked Loki, looking down at the pale man. “The incentive. It wasn’t for us.”

Loki laughed, only to end up coughing, specks of red blood coating his lips. His gaze slid to the woman he’d brought with him. “No. It wasn’t.”

“Stay in the light,” Tony told them, pulling Natasha closer as they crowded besides Loki and Thor. “Stay together and stay in the light. Loki? How’s that shield holding up?”

“It won’t, not for much longer,” Loki replied, the strain clear in his voice.

Natasha looked at each of them, even as the darkness of the corridors grew closer, beginning to speed up. “Loki, the woman you brought with you?” she asked.

Even as Loki grinned he grimaced. “Incentive,” he muttered, his hand finally falling to his side.

“Heads up people!” shouted Tony, as things seemed to happen simultaneously. 

Loki’s shield shattered at the same moment one of the gunmen lunged forwards at them. In that second, darkness swallowed the entire corridor, leaving only their small patch of light warding off the shadows. It didn’t stop the screams though, the blood chilling screams of terrified men dying in agony.

Natasha flinched as she felt something hit her bare foot and she looked down, grimacing as she saw the severed hand of the man who had lunged for them. She kicked the appendage away with disgust. Hearing Tony curse, she looked over at him, feeling her own eyes widen when she saw the waxy, grotesque face that was staring at Tony with one dead eye while the other was hanging from its socket, some sort of black ooze dripping out of it. She barely had a moment to register the nausea before the face was swallowed back into the dark. 

As suddenly as it had started, the screaming stopped. It left each of them tense and unsure, not something they liked feeling. When Natasha felt something brush against her arm, she turned swiftly to deliver a blow, only to pull up short as she watched the woman Loki had brought with him stumble. Tony moved quickly, slipping one arm behind her knees and another behind her back to scoop the woman up off her feet and hold her against his chest.

Moving closer to get a better look at her, Natasha was definitely sure that this was Alex. The lights flickered on and continued to flicker, which only made the scene they revealed worse. The corridor was littered with… well, with body parts. It was a sea of torn flesh, bathed in blood and entrails. She registered Tony coughing somewhere behind her, and even the smell of it all made her own eyes water a little. 

“What did you do Loki?” asked Thor as he helped the pale man to his feet, careful of his wound. “How?”

Loki shook his head. “It wasn’t me,” he muttered. “We need to get going. No doubt this will have alerted the rest of them.”

**********

Brown watched the monitors in silence. They weren’t ready for the experiment to be loose. He’d already given the order to evacuate. The second copy was being collected and even as he watched the screens, men were hurrying around, packing things up and collecting what they could.

“Sir?” asked Carter, holding an inventory list in his hands. “We still have two subjects halfway through their processes. What do you want doing with them?”

Brown looked over the monitor that showed Rogers. Several times now the super soldier had almost choked himself, before somehow managing to gather enough strength to straighten himself again. It showed promise. “Prepare Rogers for shipping,” he told Carter, before turning his gaze to the monitor that showed Barton.

“And the other one?” asked Carter, his voice nervous.

Brown watched the surgeons, noting that they were almost finished. “Let him rot.”

Carter was silent for a moment before he spoke again. “Is there nothing we can use form him?”

Brown turned to face him and raised a brow. “Like what? He’s only human.”

Carter shrugged. “Leverage for Rogers maybe?”

Brown turned back to Barton’s screen to watch the surgeons finish stapling up the ‘Y’ incision from Barton’s vivisection. 

“No. No, we need to move quickly. Banner’s already being shipped. Get Rogers moved then cleanse the entire facility. Leave nothing but ash.”


	7. B10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments and any mistakes are sadly all my own.

“What have you brought with you brother?” 

Though Thor’s voice was soft and low, the question almost hissed, it seemed to echo through the cold cement stairwell that they were currently heading down. They hadn’t used the elevator in case it would either give out or their captors would somehow manage to bring it to a stop. That left them using the stairwell. Thor supporting Loki as the dark haired god healed and Tony still carrying the woman Loki had found.

Loki could only shake his head at Thor’s question. “I don’t know,” he replied. 

As far as he could tell, the woman certainly looked human enough. She smelled like the humans. When Loki had looked down at her in the bottom of the broken tank, she had looked up at him unblinkingly. Not once did her gaze stray from him as he had crouched down in front of her. It might have unnerved him had he not been who he was. Curiosity had driven him to reach out a hand. He’d half expected her to bite his fingers off.

Instead she had simply watched him, allowing him to touch the tips of his fingers to her cheek, her chin, her brows and finally the tip of her nose. That last one had caused a reaction he hadn’t expected. Her nose had scrunched up a little and she’d sneezed over his hand. He’d stared at her in shock, before grimacing and wiping his hand on his pants leg. He’d had to be cautious, suspecting that she was a creature of instinct in that moment. 

Loki had pushed himself to his feet, before holding out his hand to her. When she simply looked up at him with that curious but unblinking stare, he’d huffed a breath then leaned down, taking one of her hands and giving it a small tug upwards, indicating that he’d wanted her to stand. It had seemed a suggestion that she’d understood for she’d gotten to her feet and with his guidance had then proceeded to climb out of the tank. He’d almost winced in sympathy for her when her feet crunched over the broken glass, but he’d noted that it hadn’t seemed to bother her. 

Thinking that perhaps she was in shock or maybe something equivalent, Loki had tugged off his coat before draping it over her shoulders, showing her how to put the first hand into the sleeve only for her to do the second on her own. He’d guided her to one of the chairs in the room before sitting her down. His curiosity was growing every moment he spent in her company and he wasn’t sure what had prompted him to do it. But he had. Loki had crouched in front of her and had raised his hands, giving her plenty of time to move should she desire to. She hadn’t. She’d remained stock still as he’d placed his fingers against her temples. 

Surprised was not a word Loki would’ve used when he’d entered her mind. More like suspicious. There was very little information there. No name, no information about where she’d come from, who she was or what she was. It had been as though she had been a blank slate, ready to be written on. If he’d still been as he had when he’d tried to invade Earth a few years ago Loki would’ve used that to his advantage. The thought very briefly crossed his mind when he’d spotted something. 

Deep down, so deep down Loki had been sure nothing could’ve been there, he’d spotted a glint of something. Something dark and oval shaped. The closer he’d gotten, the more he’d felt his unease grow. When he’d finally found himself in front of it, he’d circled it, noting how it looked solid and fragile at the same time. As black as onyx and as bottomless as the void he’d once fallen into, Loki had been unable to prevent his shiver. If possible, he’d have sworn he’d heard a faint cracking sound at the same time he’d spotted a hairline crack appear on the outside of whatever it was he was looking at. 

He had wanted to leave then, to flee as surely as if the Other had found him, but he’d been rooted to the spot. By fear or stupidity, he still wasn’t sure. He was sure about one thing though. He’d underestimated her. And no sooner than that thought had entered his mind that he felt something brushing against his own mental shields. It had been soft, childish and curious. So curious it had him cocking his own head to the side as he regarded the black shape in front of him. Whatever it had been, it had likely felt his discomfort and had actually withdrawn, leaving a gentle warmth behind. 

Loki had withdrew from her mind, dropping his hands to his knees and staring at her. In shock, in wonder… He didn’t know. But watching that lone, crystal clear tear slowly run down her right cheek had been enough to spur him into action. He’d made his decision. His movements were careful and deliberate when he’d lifted one of her bare feet up to his knee before resting it there.

“I’m sorry, but this may hurt quite a bit,” he’d told her, his voice quiet as he moved his fingers to the first piece of glass he could see protruding from her flesh. He decided to make quick work of it, pulling it out as quickly as he could. He noted that her toes twitched a little, but it was the odd hissing sound that had him lifting his gaze to hers. The way her eyes looked at him, assessing and steady, made him swallow hard before he lowered his eyes to take the next piece. “I’ll be as quick as I can.”

He didn’t receive a reply, hadn’t expected one. But he’d worked in silence after that, clearing one foot and then the other, before he was finally done. When he’d looked up at her again, he’d offered her a proud if small smile. “You’re stronger than you look. Do you think you can walk? I still have to find my friends.”

For the first time since he’d brought her out of that tank her gaze moved away from him and off to the left. He followed it, frowning when he spotted one of the control sections in the far corner. Leaving her where she was he moved over to it, inspecting it closely before pressing a few buttons. He stilled when the blanks screens came on. His green eyes narrowed on each one even as his felt his anger growing and his blood boiling. 

The first screen was of Thor, Natasha and Tony in a white room. The second screen caused him to suck in a breath as he watched Steve at the mercy of the men around him. The third screen showed him a sleeping Bruce, attached to several leads. The fourth screen however had him seeing red and before he could control himself he felt his magic burst out of him in a potent mixture of rage and hate.

He was deaf to the sound of things crashing, more glass shattering and metal bending. His breaths came in ragged gulps even as his hands crushed the metal desk he held onto. With a furious scream he lifted it and threw it away from him, his eyes looking for something else to destroy, something else to take the brunt of his vengeance. And that was when he spotted her. Standing there, in his coat, hair still damp, feet still bare. He’d stepped towards her with every intent of lashing out blindly, but something had pulled him up short, causing him to stop. 

Her once calm amber gaze glittered with dangerous intent. It was the first sign that he had seen which pointed towards her being more than just an empty thing, a husk. It was the first thing that brought him out of his red haze so quickly it left him sucking in air as though his very life depended on it. Those eyes alone caused him to stop, to force himself to calm down and think rationally. For a second, just a split second, he could have sworn that the rounded blackness of the woman’s pupils had become thin slits, before returning to normal with a blink.

She had raised an arm, her hand pointing towards one of the many doors that lead off from the room and Loki knew that he’d struck it lucky. He’d grinned, the action itself a sure sign that he had a plan forming. “The white room first,” he’d told her. 

Shaking himself out of the memories Loki frowned. “Does it really matter so long as we find the others?” he asked.

“That depends,” Natasha replied as she followed them down. “On what she is.”

Loki didn’t even bother to stop his eye roll. His chest hurt like a bitch as it was healing and even now… “Still you doubt me?” he asked them. He was growing tired of having to always prove himself, to prove that he was free of the Titan’s control and was once again himself, even if he did still have a few family issues to work through. 

“No,” Natasha told him firmly. “No I don’t. But we haven’t seen the others yet and who knows what’s happening to them or where they are. You say she knows, but your new friend doesn’t look like she’s willing to share.” Natasha indicated the woman in Tony’s arms with a tilt of her chin on that last part. 

“Quiet,” spoke Thor, and for a moment Loki was about to argue before the blond god continued. “Man of Steel, you are being unusually quiet.”

It brought Loki and Natasha’s petty argument to a quick halt as both of them looked to Tony who had stopped in front of a door that was marked B10. “I’m concentrating,” muttered Tony, not even bothering to look back at them.

“On what? Tony, we need to keep moving!” Natasha told him, her patience wearing thin.

But Tony shook his head, carefully allowing the woman in his arms to stand on her own two feet. “No, no we don’t,” Tony insisted, gripping the handle of the door. “What we need to do is see what’s behind door number B10!” 

Tony didn’t give them enough time to argue or reply before he was pushing against the door, opening it and then stepping through it, taking the woman by the hand and pulling her with him. The others seemed to hold their breath before Tony’s head popped back around to frown at them. “What’re you waiting for, an invitation? Come on!”

Muttering curses in Russian, Natasha followed them through, only for the words to die on her lips. It was so… quiet. So very quiet. The corridors looked deserted. The offices that she could see through panes of glass walls were empty. “Fan out, we need to find some sort of clothing. Something to arm ourselves with. But be on guard.”

She didn’t even wait for the nod from them before she started off. She was cautious with each room she checked, almost disappointed when there was no one there for her to beat the shit out of. Many cabinets that she assumed had once held files were empty, the empty folders left in the draws. There were torn papers and shredded papers scattered over the floors of a few of the offices. She snagged a coat from the back of on chair, it had obviously been forgotten in the hurry to leave. Which begged the question, why did they leave? 

“Nat? Nat!” shouted Tony’s voice from a couple rooms down. “You’ll want to see this.”

With a last look around Natasha left the office she was in and made her way to where she’d heard Tony’s voice. She couldn’t quite stop the raise of her brows as she took in the untouched room. Well, barely touched she realised, when she spotted some chairs overturned and a few papers on the floor. Bending down to pick one up, she frowned as she began reading.

“Baseline recordings,” she muttered, her eyes quickly scanning over the information. White male, late twenties early thirties. Designation S.H.I.E.L.D agent Barton, Clint. Her eyes snapped up at that. “Clint,” she breathed, looking at the others, only to find them moving off through a side door in silence. 

She followed quickly, the paper scrunching up in her hand when she came to a stop. For a moment she couldn’t understand what she was seeing. Who she was seeing. When her thoughts finally caught up, she swore again, this time her voice catching a little as she hurried over to the table that her best friend lay on. Wires lead away from Clint’s arms, chest and neck into machines that were monitoring his vitals. She could see where the IVs and the blood lines were attached. 

Her hand shook a little as she reached out to touch Clint’s face. He was so pale and so cold. The respirator tube was still in his mouth though no longer attached to the machine itself. Looking down his body, Natasha felt sick to see the livid red surgical line that was stark against Clint’s pale skin, the staples still almost clean amongst the smears of blood. In her shock she barely noticed the slight movement beneath her fingers, yet her gaze still flew up to lock on Clint’s face to find his grey eyes looking down at her.

“It’s alright, you’re going to be alright,” she told him hurriedly, wiping at the tears that slipped down his temples. “We’re going to get you out of here Clint. We’re going to get out, and blow this place to pieces on the way.”

“He was awake,” Tony muttered, flipping through some papers on a clipboard. “Awake through everything.” He threw the board away before levelling a grim look at Loki. “Can you heal him? Even if it’s only enough to safely get him out of here?”

Loki nodded, moving closer in silence. He doubted he’d be able to heal it all, but he’d do what he could if it meant getting the archer back on his feet long enough to get to the others and then out of here. When he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, he looked up to see Thor gazing down at Clint. “Do not worry my friend,” Thor told Clint. “Loki knows what he’s doing. He will have you on your feet in no time at all.”

Natasha wrapped her arms around her middle as she moved aside, giving Loki room to work. “I want them dead.” Her voice was cold, flat as she spoke. “I don’t care how. I want them all dead.”

“You’ll get it Nat,” Tony told her quietly. “From what I can work out, they were trying to get a baseline for a human. Clint was the first to work with. Then it would’ve been you.” He drew her attention at that, tapping the papers that were scattered on the table. It showed in detail what they’d managed to find out from working on Clint. Nat’s name was on the forms below.

“Why would they be trying to take us apart?” she asked, looking up from the papers. She moved some aside and pulled the keyboard of a computer closer. After a few command prompts, and a good deal of snooping, she shook her head. 

“Here, let me,” Tony offered, taking over. His gaze was focused and determined as he typed away, watching the data flash by and the images flow down the screen. He paused when he thought he’d spotted something, and carefully he brought the pages of images back up. 

Loki bit his bottom lip at the strain the extensive healing was causing. He was still not at full strength from dealing with his own wound. Yet as he watched his magic work, knitting together Clint’s flesh and popping the staples out, leaving only a dark red scar behind, he had to admit that it was as far as he could go. Speaking quietly, he told Clint that he was going to take the tube out of his throat. Clint only gave him a single blink which Loki took for permission before the god began pulling. 

Clint’s body strained on the table and Loki was glad that he hadn’t yet removed the man’s restraints. Though unfamiliar with human medical equipment, Loki knew enough that Clint had tubes where he shouldn’t and with another muttered apology, he made quick work of removing them as well before finally releasing Clint from the straps that had held him down. 

“Jesus,” breathed Tony, stepping away from the screen he was staring at.

“Tony?” Natasha tried to get a closer look, but Tony moved to block her.

“No Nat,” he tried, only for her to shove him aside and lean in closer. At the sound of her gasp, Tony closed his eyes for a moment before looking at each of them. “They weren’t trying to take us apart,” he told them. “They were trying to put something back together.”


	8. Do Not Be Afraid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who were wondering what had happened to Steve, well here it is. Please be aware that I was quite brutal. There may be triggers. And gore.

Steve was aware of the pain, of the agony that tore through him with each thrust the man behind drove into him. He’d lost track of the time, of how long he’d been forced to stand there and take what was happening. The chain around his neck had tightened several times, cutting off his air and causing him to choke when he’d lost his balance or his shaky legs had finally given out on him. The first few times it had happened he’d managed to use his hate and anger to strengthen the limbs and his resolve. 

After the fourth, maybe fifth time? He’d come to realise that no one was going to help him, that as much as he’d struggled against the chains that had held him, he wasn’t able to break free. They’d laughed at that, before their sneers had taken on a dangerous tone. The next time his legs had buckled, he’d had a split second to hear a loud crackle, before white hot burning agony had exploded in his groin. Until then Steve hadn’t cried out or shouted, barely uttering a grunt. When the cattle prod had been pressed against his balls though, he’d screamed, unable to hold it back.

They’d barked at him, shouting at him to get back to his feet. When he’d been unable to, they’d shocked him again, laughing and jeering when he’d writhed and screamed again, only to have his scream cut off when the chain around his neck had tightened, cutting off his air. Hard hands had pulled him back onto his feet and a cool voice had muttered into his ear.

“Here’s the deal Rogers,” the voice had told him. “Stay on your feet and we won’t shock you.” Steve groaned as dry fingers pushed into him, two and then three, before they pulled up, forcing Steve onto the balls of his feet. “The next time you fall, it won’t be a dick to go up here.”

Steve had managed to remain standing for the next two men. The third though was more sadistic, grabbing Steve’s aching balls in his fist and squeezing until Steve though he’d be sick and finally his knees had buckled. He had distantly heard laughing and jeering before fiery agony blazed to life in his body, spreading up from his ass and into his gut. He lost control of his bladder at that and vomited, though the constriction around his throat didn’t allow for it to go anywhere.

There’d been a lot of swearing then, and he’d had a moment to feel the tension around his neck go slack before he’d hit the ground hard, the impact jarring his left shoulder and hip as he landed heavily on his side, unable to protect himself.

“Again!” he heard someone bark, before the agony coursed through him again, causing him to scream out and flop around on the cold floor like a fish out of water. When it stopped, Steve was left breathing hard, trying to understand what had just happened. 

Fingers carded through his hair before they gripped it, pulling his head back harshly and causing him to strain his neck as he was forced to raise his head. “This is a better look for you Rogers, on the ground, on your belly.”

Steve blearily looked up at the man who spoke, the same one who had instigated all of this. He mumbled something, causing the man holding onto him to scowl. “Speak up!” 

Steve swallowed hard, closing his eyes for a moment before he opened them again, determination in their blue depths. Yet it wasn’t his tormentor that he looked at, but instead over the man’s shoulder, to look out through the observation window. “I… I will… not yield,” Steve managed to grit out the words, where they’d come from he had no idea, before his face was shoved brutally into the ground beneath him. He heard his nose break, the blossom of pain radiating out throughout his face and Steve had to force himself to keep his eyes open and his gaze firm.

“We’ll see about that,” the bastard that had smashed his face into the floor sneered even as he moved around behind Steve. “Hold him down.”

Heavy hands pushed him down against the floor and Steve grit his teeth against the nausea that threatened to take over. Even as he felt a gloved hand grab his balls and pull them back, causing him to let out a whimper, Steve blinked up at the glass window. “I… I w-will not kneel,” he mumbled, shuddering as he felt a cold thin cord being wrapped around the base of his balls. 

When the cord was pulled tight he couldn’t stop his cry. He tried to draw his legs together, forgetting about the restraints around his ankles that held them apart. The same gloved hands gripped his hips, pulling him up onto his knees though his shoulders were kept pinned down. He felt the tug on his balls and some part of him realised that they’d attached the cord to the chains at his ankles, effectively hobbling him.

The hard slap on his upturned ass caused him to startle and jolt forwards, in turn making the cord tug harshly on his balls. “This is how you should always be from now on Rogers,” laughed the man behind him. 

“W-will n-not bow m-my head,” mumbled Steve, his slurred words earning another hard slap to his ass.

Steve tensed up as he felt a gloved finger pressing against his entrance. “C-can’t…” moaned Steve as the finger entered him, the glove tearing at already torn flesh. He raised his gaze again, locking with the amber eyes that were begging him through the glass. Taking a deep breath, Steve spoke again, forcing his voice to be strong and to carry. “I… I will stand. I’ll fight. Beyond...”

The hard kick to his jaw left him seeing starts, the pain in his face almost overshadowing the pain in his ass as two and then three fingers entered him. It was followed by four fingers before the man behind him spoke again.

“You’d best gag him for this. He’s gonna be a screamer.”

When Steve felt hands pulling his head up, he began to renew the struggles that he’d thought he’d lost. He sank his teeth into one hand, causing the owner to yell out, before he earned a fist to the face forcing him to release the hand. As his head was pulled back, Steve caught sight of some sort of gag in one man’s hands, and before he could stop himself the words burst forth.

“Beyond the day I’m dead!” 

No sooner had Steve managed to yell them than his jaws were forced open and the gag inserted. It pushed at the back of his throat and made him heave, before being buckled behind his head tightly and he was allowed to drop forwards. He gagged on the thing in his mouth as he felt the fingers inside of him turning and twisting, before they were withdrawn. Blinking past the tears that caused his eyes to burn, Steve tried to see through the window but his view was obstructed. He had a moment of sheer utter terror as he felt a closed fist pressing against him, before all hell broke loose.

In the same moment that the men in the room started shouting and cursing, Steve felt hot wetness splatter across his back. He looked up at them, his own panic beginning to climb, trying to choke him as he watched the men who had before been so brutal and sadistic, now trying to fight their way to the door, pulling at it and banging at it, screaming for help all the while looking back over their shoulders in terror. 

Steve could only crouch there, bound and helpless as the lights in his prison room flickered on and off. Gunfire rang out, almost deafening him and Steve had to squeeze his eyes shut a moment when he thought that he’d get caught in the crossfire. His ears were ringing by the time the shooting stopped, and Steve found himself shivering beyond his control. 

When something warm and wet touched his cheek, his face still pressed against the floor, he opened his eyes, rearing back in sickened shock at the growing pool of blood that had spread out to him. The movement only caused him to groan, doubling over on himself to ease the tension on his balls. Huffing through his nose, he looked up, craning his neck to take stock of what had happened. 

Body parts were scattered about him, organs laying on the floor like discarded rubbish. As he shifted, he felt something slid off of his back, hitting his thigh before hearing a wet squelching sound. Turning a little, he would’ve thrown up at the sight of the heart that now lay next to him if not for what else he spotted.

Toes. Bare toes to be exact. Bare toes that wiggled in the pool of congealing blood that were attached to slender feet. Raising his gaze, his felt his eyes widen as he took in long slender legs, what was obviously a woman’s groin which he skipped over quickly. Despite everything, he felt his cheeks heat up as he let his gaze roam higher, until he finally met those amber eyes. Eyes he realised, that were crying.

He couldn’t stop his flinch when she dropped to her knees beside him. Nor could he prevent disbelief from widening his eyes. He held himself perfectly still as she reached behind him, undoing the strap and gently pulling out the gag. He heaved a few times, coughing up bile, before finally spitting it out and raising his head again at the touch of her small hand on his shoulder.

“Let me go,” he croaked, his voice rough from screaming. “Please, you have to let me go. The others…”

Gentle fingers against his lips stopped his words better than any gag could’ve done, and he almost sagged with relief when she nodded and then moved around him. He could feel her working behind him, and then the tension of his bonds loosened and his arms fell forwards, his shoulders and muscles screaming at the movement. A gentle touch against his balls almost had him shouting, until he realised that the cord had been released. Despite the pain that followed, Steve barely waited until his legs were free before he moved, turning around to find her watching him.

“You’re dead. You were shot. I saw it,” he muttered, looking her over but finding no proof of the bullet hole.

He watched her shake her head, her mouth moving but no sound coming out. Frowning, he realised that she was speaking. He grasped her shoulders, but they felt wrong beneath his hands. Too large, too cold. “Slower. I’m not so good at reading lips. I need you to go slower.”

Steve kept his eyes trained on her mouth, watching carefully as she repeated it over and over. “S... Sa... Save? Save… Ok it’s save. So, save… save h… him? No, not him. Her. Save her. Is that right? Save her?” asked Steve. 

When she stopped and looked at him, Steve had the distinct feeling that he was losing something. The cell lights suddenly went out, leaving him in pitch black. He felt the sudden weight in his hands increase, and carefully he patted up the shoulder and along the neck, swearing and letting go when he felt torn flesh beneath his hands. When the lights flickered on, their pattern and power unpredictable, Steve looked around himself at the slaughter. Who he’d thought he’d been holding turned out to be a decapitated corpse. 

His whole body protested at the movement, but he pushed himself to his feet, having to lean against the wall and trying not to think about the blood that made the floor slippery underneath him. Using the wall to keep him upright, Steve raised his head at the sound of creaking hinges. He almost laughed when he watched the door to the cell open a little. Swallowing down his growing hysteria, Steve shuddered. He had to find the others. He had to find them, make sure they were alright. That they were alive and not like… 

He didn’t look back as he made his way out.


	9. So Close...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all who read and those who comment. If you have any suggestions for tags or anything else please feel free to let me know politely. There could be a trigger in this one.

Rubbing his eyes, Tony looked up from the papers he was reading to look at his team. His friends. They’d managed to find clothing of a sorts, if you counted lab coats and scrubs clothing. Despite the clothes, it didn’t make Tony feel any better. He was cold, tired and hungry. And he suspected, just as the others did, that he also just wanted to go home. “Are we even in the same universe?” he suddenly asked, directing his question to Loki.

Loki looked up from where he sat on the floor, the woman – Alex, Tony was sure – tucked protectively against him, her head on his shoulder and her eyes closed as she seemingly slept. Loki sighed as he carefully made sure to tuck his coat more snugly around his new… pet? He wasn’t sure. “Yes, Stark, the same universe. The same planet even. Though I’ll be honest, I do not know where.”

Tony felt his brows raise at that. “You mean we’re on Earth? Our Earth?” At Loki’s nod of confirmation, Tony frowned, looking back down at the papers he held. “Short range. That’s why there were so many of them. They were short range transport portals.”

Natasha looked up from her place on the floor where Clint was leaning against her resting. “That means if we can find what opened them, we can get them open again. After all, a door opens both ways.”

Tony wasn’t sure, but he’d swear he’d just seen Loki stiffen. He was proved right when Thor faced the other god. “Loki? You know something?”

Loki’s expression became stubborn, and he made sure to keep his arms wrapped around the woman currently sleeping against him. “I… may possibly have a few ideas,” he admitted reluctantly. “Well… one, at least.”

Tony tucked the papers he held into the pocket of the coat he’d found. “Well, don’t keep us in suspense Lokes. Why don’t you share with the rest of us?”

“Because I might be wrong you stupid mortal,” Loki snapped irritably, only to quieten his voice as the woman in his arms moved a little, rubbing her cheek against his chest, before settling again. “I can’t be certain,” Loki continued quietly. “I think… I think we were called in to help.”

“They did it wrong,” muttered Clint, his voice barely above a whisper. “They did it wrong. Put it together wrong.”

Natasha leaned back a little to get a better look at Clint, but he refused to meet her eyes. “What did they do wrong? Put what back together?”

Clint didn’t have the chance to reply before a loud siren started blaring. It caused them each to spring to their feet. “What’s betting they know we’re out?” shouted Tony, trying to be hear above the alarm. “We need to get moving!”

“Then we’d better start!” shouted Steve from the doorway of the office they had been hiding in. He’d never been so happy to see his friend and Steve’s legs almost gave out on him. They would have if he hadn’t spotted who Loki was holding onto. Steely resolve strengthened his determination. “Get moving!”

They didn’t argue. Hurrying out back into the stairwell, they went up. They weren’t sure what was worse, the loud siren or the fact that they didn’t come across anyone else. The low rumbling brought their ascent to a stop, and cautiously Tony looked over the bars. His eyes narrowed as he searched the darkness below until he saw it. The same moment he did, someone grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, just in time to avoid the large block of cement and metal that fell from above.

Tony looked at Steve, his eyes wide, before he nodded his thanks and swallowed hard. “We need to get out,” he told him. “This place is going down.”

“Loki, if you know something...” Thor spoke, his voice low and serious and unnervingly quiet. Tony watched as a silent discussion passed between the two gods, before Loki sighed.

Turning to the woman he’d found, Loki gripped her shoulders gently, aware that she didn’t look up to meet his eyes. “Look at me,” he directed, his voice firm. “Look at me!”

When she finally did raise her eyes to him, Loki clenched his jaw, once again feeling that soft brush against his mental shields. “You need to do this. My friends have been hurt because of this.” When she looked away, Loki gripped her chin, bringing her gaze back to him. “You do not get to look away from this mess. It doesn’t help. Believe me, I know.” Releasing her chin, he cupped her cheek in his palm, gentling his voice. “You asked for help and we are here. Now help us.”

After a moment of tense silence, the woman raised her chin, her gaze directing to the next floor up, and more specifically, the door that had ‘A13’ on it. Loki sighed, patting her shoulder. “Good, that’s good.” He looked to the others. “That’s our way out.”

Tony didn’t need to be told twice. Between him and Natasha they helped Clint up to the next level. “Thor old buddy, if you’d be so kind?” asked Steve when he realised that he wasn’t able to break open the door. Thor didn’t waste time, taking the door down and hurrying through, making sure the way was safe before the others followed. They’d barely managed to get through the door before debris took out the landing and stairs.

“Is everyone alright?” asked Steve, looking over each of them. “Everyone accounted for?”

“No,” Loki replied, making his way back to the door they’d just come from. “Damn it, what did you do that for?!”

Moving to the door, Steve saw what had upset the god so much. Their new friend hadn’t managed to make it through with them. Instead, she’d gotten caught on the opposite landing. Looking around, Steve saw that there were no stairs left and looking down, he could now see the inferno that was steadily making its way up. He looked back at her. “You’re going to have to jump!” he told her.

He watched her eyes widen and she shook her head frantically. Steve scowled, looking around from something, anything. “Hold me out!” Steve looked over his shoulder in shock at Tony. 

“What?”

“I said hold me out,” Tony told him, shouldering his way into the doorway. He gripped Steve’s hand, meeting his gaze head on. “I can catch her, but even my arms aren’t long enough to do this on my own. I need you to hold me out.”

Steve stared at him a long moment, trying to read something in Tony’s eyes.

“I can catch her Steve,” Tony repeated more quietly. “I swear, I can catch her.”

Steve looked at him a moment longer before he clasped the back of Tony’s neck and drew him closer, smashing his mouth against Tony’s in a quick, harsh kiss, before releasing the other man with a nod. Tony blinked at him and Steve was sure this should be a moment that was recorded in history: Tony Stark speechless. Another rumble through the building though put paid to that thought, and with another nod, he clasped onto Tony’s hand, taking the man’s weight as Tony leaned out over the abyss between them and the woman.

Tony stretched out, holding his hand out to the woman on the crumbling platform. “You gotta jump,” he told her, wiggling his fingers at her in encouragement. “I’ll catch you but you’ve got to jump.”

He held his breath as he watched her use the wall to push herself to her feet, then released his breath in a strained huff. He watched her edge forwards carefully, leaning over a little to look down. “No!” he told her sharply, causing her to waver a moment as he gaze snapped back up to him. “No, don’t look down. Look at me. Keep your eyes on me.”

The sharp tug on his arm was all the warning Tony got before he was pulled back. “What the-?”

Rock and mortar fell past him, and he watched in horror as it banged into the platform she was on. She’d thrown herself against the wall, pressing her back to it as more of her platform was taken away. Tony waited until the worst was over before he moved forwards again, leaning out as far as he possibly could. He could feel Steve’s hand gripping onto him and knew the other man would have him. 

“Alex,” Called Tony. “You’re name’s Alex, isn’t it?” When she looked at him, he thought he may have been given a very tiny nod of the head so he continued. “Well, I’m Tony. And I swear to God I will catch you. But you have to jump sweetheart. I need you to jump.”

He thought he heard a soft whimper come from her, but wasn’t sure as it was followed by another rumble. He watched in disappointment as her head lowered and she crouched down. If they waited much longer it wouldn’t matter how much Tony tried to talk her into it. “I’m not leaving you,” Tony told her, watching as her body tensed. “I’m staying right here with you even if the entire building comes down around us. I won’t leave you alone. I promise.”

At his words, she lifted her head, and Tony almost shivered at the look of fear in her eyes. He swallowed his own down as best as he could. “Come on, yeah? Come on, we can get out of here. I bet you haven’t seen much of these parts have you?” Tony kept his voice calm as he spoke. “I can take you anywhere you want to go. Paris? London? France? Anywhere in the world. Just name it.”

“Tony!”

Three things happened at once. Tony felt Steve pulling him back and at the same time Tony looked up to see several beams of metal and rods and blocks falling straight at him. No sooner had he registered that it would be too late, than something crashed into him, pushing him and Steve both backwards, taking them to the ground with startled cries.

Taking a second to move red hair from his mouth, Tony looked down to see Alex laying on top of him. With a shouted laugh, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as relief left him a weak mess, albeit a weak mess sprawled on top of Steve. Carefully moving off of Steve, Tony turned onto his side, keeping a tight hold on her. “Alex?” he asked quietly, moving her hair from her face to look down at her. He frowned when he noticed her eyes were closed, her face relaxed. “Alex? Come on sweetheart, open your eyes for me.”

“Tony?” asked Steve, moving to kneel besides him. 

Tony shook his head, running his hand through her hair, only to draw it back, looking at the blood on his fingers with wide eyes. “No,” he muttered, checking her pulse before laying her flat on her back. “No, we didn’t just get her killed. Not again.” Tilting her head back, she pressed his mouth to hers, giving her a couple of breaths before he knelt up and began compressions. “Dammit, we did not just go through this shit to lose again!”

Steve watched helplessly as Tony worked. He looked back at the others, noting Natasha’s expression was blank, though her grip on Clint’s arm was knuckle white tight. Clint watched on with a pained expression, his pallor still pale. Loki looked ready to attack them and push Tony out of the way, but Thor kept a tight grip of his shoulder, keeping him in place, his own expression pained. Looking back at Tony, Steve laid a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Tony,” he tried, only for his hand to be shrugged off.

“No!” snapped Tony harshly, bending to breathe into her again and then starting the compressions again. “No. I did not just get her killed. I made her jump Steve. She shouldn’t have jumped, but I had to keep on at her.”

Steve gripped Tony’s hands, stopping him, and kept his gaze firm when Tony looked up at him. “We’re not giving up,” he told him, moving Tony’s hands away and taking his place. “Thor! Find us a door. Don’t care if you have to make one!”

“Bring the roof down brother,” Loki told Thor as he moved to stand over Steve and Tony. He signalled Clint and Natasha to come closer, and once they were, he looked to Thor again. “I have enough to shield. Now do as the good Captain says and make a door.”

The grin Thor gave was downright frightening as he raised Mjolnir above his head. They could hear the thunder rumbling and not moments later lightning split the ceiling, crashing through to hit Mjolnir. Loki looked up behind his shield, able to feel each hit the debris caused on impact. What he saw made his eyes widen a little. Through the ceiling to the blue sky, there was a hole amongst the clouds and beyond that hole he could see the stars dotted amongst the black sky. 

“To your liking brother?” asked Thor, lowering his arm with a satisfied smirk. 

Loki rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, to my liking,” he replied, waiting until he was sure nothing else would fall before he lowered his shield. He turned to the others as he felt the floor beneath him begin to shift. Now that the fake sky had been damaged, he could feel more easily where they were. Which meant he could get them back on his own steam.

Natasha watched silently as both Steve and Tony worked on Alex. Neither of them were getting a response. “You need to stop,” she told them, moving to stand beside them. “Tony, Steve you need to stop. We need a defibrillator.” 

“I know that but we don’t happen to have one handy at the moment!” snapped Tony angrily as he looked up at her. It earned him a raised brow and he swallowed against the lump in his throat. “Sorry.”

Natasha sighed, gripping his shoulder and pulling at it. “I know we don’t have one Tony. But we have the next best thing.” She indicated Thor, and more importantly, the lighting still crackling around Mjolnir.

Tony was quiet a moment before he scrambled back. “Steve, Steve get out of the way.” He told him, pulling on his arm. “Thor needs room.”

Steve looked up from doing the compressions to Tony, before he stopped and move away. “This might not work,” he muttered. 

He looked down when a hand took his own, then looked up to see Tony’s eyes on Thor and Alex. “It will. I’m not having someone else’s death on my conscience today.”


	10. Safe And Sound?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They really shouldn't bring home strays....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm so sorry it's taken so long to update. Between work and exams and college I didn't really have much time. I know this one will have a lot of questions to it, but they will be answered as we go along. Thank you for being so patient, I don't have a proofreader, or is it Bets? and so any mistakes are my own.

The arrival at the Avengers Facility was to say the least, pure and utter chaos. For a split moment the everyday chatter of staff came to a sudden silence, before Loki’s knees buckled and he collapsed against Thor’s side, having used the last of his energy to get them back. It was as though that action alone was enough to cause the flurry of movement and shouting that followed. Medical staff converged on them, separating each of them and asking questions while escorting them through the building to the medical wing. Tony lost sight of the others as he was led to his own room but his mind was working overtime, even as the medics were checking him over.

Thor had managed to revive Alex, though it had taken a couple of times to do it. Tony still couldn’t believe the feeling of relief that had almost made him cry. Instead he’d let out a choked off laugh even as he’d gathered her close, fingers firmly on the pulse point at her neck as he’d held her. It had all moved quickly after that. Loki had teleported them out of the lower levels and they had reappeared in what must have been some sort of court yard. Tony thought that it may have been that but he couldn’t be certain. Vehicles had been abandoned, there had been empty caskets that must have once housed weapons. A tremor through the ground had caused Loki to swear and just like that they had been teleported again, this time to further out into what Tony had seen was a desert. He hated deserts. They hadn’t stayed long though, just enough for Loki to take a few deep breaths before they had moved again.

When they had spotted a line of smoke through the air, Tony was already dizzy from the short range jumps. With a swift order of not to move, Loki had vanished. Tony had looked at each of his friends then… his family. Thor had stood tall and strong, weapon in hand and eyes on the horizon, yet Tony could see the wary way in which his grip tightened on the handle of Mjolnir. Natasha looked exhausted and pale, even as she held onto Clint, carding her fingers through his hair and murmuring something to him that was too quiet for Tony to hear. Clint… Well, Tony hadn’t seen such a vacant look in someone’s eyes before. It was a look that told Tony something had happened that caused Clint to shut down, something so horrific that it would take more time to process. And from the angry red scar of the large ‘Y’ incision on Clint’s torso, Tony thought that he knew what it had been.

Rubbing a hand over his face, Tony turned his gaze onto Steve. The other man was stood a little way off from them. His back was to them, his shoulders hunched in and his head bowed. Tony’s eyes narrowed as he spotted the tightly clenched fists that Steve held at his sides. Tony couldn’t be sure but he thought that Steve’s posture practically screamed ‘ashamed’. He swallowed hard, coming to the conclusion that Steve was feeling guilty for what had happened to them.

“It’s not your fault,” he called out to him, watching as his lover’s entire form stiffened.

A moment of silence followed Tony’s words before Steve spoke. “I could’ve fought harder,” he replied without looking back. Though Steve didn’t shout, there was something in his voice that carried to Tony. “I didn’t have to let them do it. I could’ve fought back.”

“Don’t blame yourself Steve. They used us against each other,” Natasha added. “They knew how to control us. Knew we wouldn’t risk each other.”

Tony’s words died out as Loki reappeared amongst them. The sight of a stumbling and sleepy Hulk caused Tony’s jaw to drop for a second before he snapped his mouth shut. He watched as Loki carefully laid Hulk down, only for the huge green body to gradually shrink, the green receding before all that was left was a sleeping Bruce. “One of their air machines had fallen from the sky and crashed further on,” Loki explained, taking a shaky breath, gathering himself and then straightening. “I found our friend there staggering about as though he’d had too much mead.”

“Loki, how far do you think we are from home?” asked Steve and he moved closer to them.

Loki had frowned. “Not too far that I cannot do a last jump,” he had replied even as he’d made his way over to Tony and crouched down, reaching out a hand and running his fingers gently over Alex’s forehead. He sighed, probably in relief Tony had thought at the time. That had been that. They had gotten to the facility in that last jump.

**********  
Tony jumped slightly as the firm shake of his shoulder. He turned to look at the doctor that was standing beside him, a Doctor Davids he thought. “Mr Stark, can you tell us what happened while you were away?”

Tony blinked at him, before shrugging him off. He pushed off the bed and snagged the sweat pants, t-shirt and ear-communicator he spotted on the chair of the room that had been left there for him, probably by another member of staff. “I don’t know what the hell happened,” Tony replied, his look becoming hard and determined as he slipped the communicator into his ear. “But I sure as hell aim to find out.”

Tony ignored the doctor’s protests as he strode out of the room. “FRIDAY, tell me the rest of the gang didn’t decide to wander off base while we were gone?” asked Tony as he made his way down the corridor to where he knew one of the other recovery rooms would be, dressing as he went.

“They’re still here boss,” replied FRIDAY. “Waiting in the conference room.”

“Good. Make sure there’s a terminal ready and waiting for me. I need to check something first.” Tony stopped at one of the doors and looked through the window of the room. He could see several medical staff standing around the bed, and just beyond them he could see the still form of Alex. At least, he thought of her as Alex. Whether or not that was right he would find out.

Pushing the door open he stepped inside, ignoring the medical staff as he shouldered through them to stand beside the bed. Looking down at her, he was surprised at how frail she looked. With skin almost as pale as the white sheets she lay on, her shock of dark red hair looked like blood. It made him swallow hard even as he remembered what had happened to the first one he’d seen. He noticed the line of IV fluid leading into the crook of her right elbow; the pads attached just below the neckline of her hospital gown that would monitor her heart rate; the small grey finger monitor on her left index finger that would monitor her oxygen saturation levels. Tony lifted his gaze back to her face, frowning as he noticed her eyes moving behind closed lids.

“She’s dreaming?” he muttered quietly. Obviously he hadn’t been quiet enough though as one of the doctors answered him.

“No Mr. Stark, not dreaming so much as possibly remembering. Though remembering what is anyone’s guess. She’s stable and remarkably healthy though, if a little underweight. She could do with some decent meals in her. We’re just waiting for some blood tests to come back and for her to wake up before we decide what the best course of action is.”

“Send the results to me and destroy any samples,” Tony told the doctor firmly, giving him a narrowed eyed look when he began to protest. “You really don’t want to argue, not after the last few days I’ve had.”

The doctor swallowed before finally nodding. “Of course Mr. Stark. If I could ask –“

“No you can’t,” Tony cut him off. “Now everyone out. I’ll call you if you’re needed.”

“Mr. Stark -!”

“I said out! All of you. Make sure the rest of my team are treated.”  
Silence followed Tony’s order before he heard footsteps leaving, the door closing quietly and leaving Alex and himself alone. Tony let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding before he rubbed his eyes with the heel of both hands. “Fuck,” he muttered, pulling the single chair over to the side of the bed and sitting down. He felt absolutely exhausted, but he knew he still had work to do. He looked her over again, glanced at the monitors, before he took hold of her nearest hand in his own trembling grip. “Fuck,” he repeated. “I don’t know why you were there, or what happened to you, I know you died, twice because of us, but I promise, I’ll find out. Anything you need. And I’ll keep my promise about showing you the world. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

Maybe it was his exhaustion or maybe it was what had happened, Tony didn’t know but for a second, just a second, he could have sworn he’d seen a very, very slight smile. “Who are you? Is your name really Alex or is it something else? The others will be wanting to know as well. So how about you wake up so we can all say a proper hello to you.” Tony rested an arm on the bed besides her before he lowered his head to it. “Got so much to show you. To ask you.” He mumbled, eyes sliding closed. “Jus’… wake… up…”

*********

It was a struggle to open her eyes, and though it took effort, she managed it, blinking a few times to stare up at a white ceiling. Soft insistent beeping drew her attention, and she moved her head a little to eh side, her gaze landing on the thing next to the bed that was making the noise. She watched a moment as the green line zig-zagged with each beep, before she turned away. Her eyes widened slightly as she spotted a mop of dark hair besides her on the bed. IT was then that she realised she could feel warm hands holding her own. Carefully and slowly, she pulled her hand from the loose grip to hold it up in front of her own face. She looked over the digits even as she moved them, before looking back what she could see was a sleeping man.

“You’re awake I see.”

The sudden words startled her and her gaze snapped to the man who was closing the door quietly behind him, before he stepped closer.

“Do you know who I am?” he asked, moving closer and picking up the medical chart at the end of her bed to look through it. When she didn’t answer, he gave her a smile. It sent shivers down her spine. “No, I don’t suppose you do. It doesn’t matter, it’s not important.”

She tensed as he moved again, replacing the chart and stepping closer to the man who slept besides her. She sucked in a breath as she watched him pull a syringe from his coat pocket. Her action must have made some noise as the sleeping man began to stir. She physically jumped when the needle of the syringe was plunged into the waking man’s neck, causing him to cry out and begin to move, only for the other to wrap his free hand around the front of the vulnerable throat.

“Not so fast Mr Stark, unless you want to find out what’s in this syringe.”

She watched as the now awake man, the one called Mr. Stark, stilled, his breath stuttering as he forced his body to relax. When the other spoke again, her eyes moved to him.

“We’ve spent a lot of money on you my dear. Too much to just let you wander away as you please. Now, here’s what you’re going to do. The higher ups don’t think you can understand us, but I think differently. And just to prove it, I’m going to give you some simple instructions for you to follow, or else we’re going to see exactly how much blood Stark here can lose before his heart gives out. Do you understand?”

“Don’t listen to him Alex!” Stark barked, only to groan as the plunger on the syringe was pushed down, the yellow liquid inside disappearing into Stark’s vein,

She saw Stark pale, try to move and then fail, his body slumping back in the chair. Looking at his eyes, she could see that he was watching her, she could see the anger and the worry in them. Her eyes snapped to the other man as he moved around, switching off the monitors and then pulling out a knife from his inside pocket. “Now then. Get off the bed and get rid of the wires.” When she didn’t move, he pressed the blade against Stark’s exposed throat, a small bead of blood emerging. “Now my dear. And don’t even think of trying to escape, I have two men posted outside your door.”

Though it took effort, and her legs were wobbly, she managed to climb off the bed, shivering a little at the feeling of the cold floor on her bare feet. One by one, she pulled at the sticky attachments on her chest, letting them fall, before moving her hand to the IV port on her arm, only to stop. Her hand trembled a little as she took hold of the thing. Her grip on the thing tightened and she slid it out, watching the red blood seep from the small wound even as she dropped the port on the floor. When she lifted her eyes, she watched the man nod. “Now unlock the door. My associates are going to come in and you’re going to let them cuff you, before they take you out. Just remember, if you try anything funny, Stark dies.”

Stepping around them, giving them a wide birth, she reached out once at the door and unlocked it, before stepping back. The two men he had spoken of stepped in, both in suits and one with a grey case. The case was dropped onto the bed before being opened and two thick metal cuffs were pulled out. She looked back to where Stark sat and she saw it. The quirk of the lips that showed her a grim smile.

Large rough hands gripped her wrists, pulling her arms back. When she felt the cold metal encircle one wrist, she returned Stark’s smile.

And watched his eyes widen with fear.


	11. Breached

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were waiting for them....

“How’s he doing?”

The Doctor looked up as Natasha entered the room. He replaced Clint’s medical chart and gave a nod towards the sleeping man. “Remarkably well actually for someone who’s had a vivisection while still conscious.” When he spotted the woman suck in a breath, he grimaced. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware you didn’t know.”

Natasha shook her head. “It’s alright. I suspected but couldn’t be sure.” She told him, moving to stand besides Clint’s side, taking his hand in her own. “He wasn’t able to give any details.”

The doctor nodded as he stood beside her. “That would be the drugs they gave him. Succhinylcholine. He was awake and alert throughout the surgery.”

“We found…” Natasha swallowed, gathering her thoughts. “We found evidence that they had planned to carry out the same procedure on the rest of us.”

“What? Why on earth would they do that?”

“At first we thought they were trying to take something apart. After sifting through some records though, we found they were trying to put something back together.” She looked up at him, her eyes hard. “We think it might have been a person, but we’re not sure.”

The doctor frowned, moving away and standing to look out of the window of the door even as Natasha turned back to Clint, carding her fingers through his hair.

“A person?” he asked quietly. “Any idea who?”

She shook her head even as the doctor moved about the room. “No.” Natasha frowned as she spotted something on the front of Clint’s medical chart. Leaning over, she picked it up, flicking through the pages, reading each one carefully, before her eyes landed on the sheet listing medicines that had been given. “Doctor, Succhinylcholine is on the list of drugs Clint’s been given.”

“Yes, yes it is,”

“Why is that?”

As the increase in speed of Clint’s hear monitor registered, Natasha’s grip on the metal board tightened even as she raised her gaze to Clint’s face. Her entire body tensed when she saw his eyes were wide open and staring with terror over her shoulder.

“So he couldn’t interfere of course.”

**********

Thor watched in amusement as the needle pressed against his skin and bent again. It was the third one they had tried and he felt somewhat sorry for these Midgardian healers. At the sigh one of them gave, he gave an apologetic shrug in return. Despite telling them that he was unharmed, they had insisted that he be ‘checked over’ as they had told him, and he had decided to indulge them. Which had led him to barring his chest for them to press a small cold metal disk, a stethoscope, he remembered Jane telling him, against his skin. That had been followed by the syringes filled with some sort of green liquid. He shook his head at the thought, remembering that they had told him it had been something they had called an antibiotic and was just a procedure.

He sighed, knowing that he should be with the others by now instead of sitting here, doing nothing. With an impatient frown, he stood, ignoring the protests of the doctors and pulling on the grey t-shirt he had been given. “I have told you, I am fine,” he said firmly, moving towards the door only to stop short when one of them blocked his way, the woman smaller than most of the staff present, and dark in skin and hair, with soft looking red glossed lips.

“I know what you said Mr Odinson, but please, understand the position that we’re in,” the small woman doctor told him. “We’ll get into trouble if we don’t do our jobs. Please, just a while longer.”

Thor drew in a deep breath to control his temper and calm himself. It was then he noticed as slight, sweet scent in the air. He could taste it at the back of his throat and he swallowed before opening his mouth to reply to the woman, only he stopped himself at the small smile she gave him.

“You must understand,” she told him, her voice soft and drawing Thor’s attention solely to her. He frowned, shook his head in an attempt to rid himself of the heavy feeling in his mind. 

“There is nothing to understand,” he replied firmly, once again tasting the scent in the air. “I do not need to be checked over.”

“We have our orders,” he heard her say, her voice sounding as though it were coming from a distance away. “We have our orders to take care of you all to the best of our abilities.”

As the room shifted around him, Thor shook his head again, the action causing him to stumble back into waiting hands. He looked down at the hands on his arms, not quite able to understand why they were there. As the strength in his legs gave out, he was lowered down to his knees. He looked up at the woman as she came nearer and he had to blink several times to try and clear his vision as it became blurred.

“What…” he tried, having to swallow again, grimacing as the sweet scent in the air became sickly, his tongue feeling thick and heavy in his mouth. “Wha’… ‘ave…you… d’nnn…” he demanded, though his words rasped and slurred.

The woman reached forwards, running her fingers through his hair, only to grip a handful and pull his head back, barring his throat to her. “Exactly what we were ordered to do,” she told him. “We had to be sure that the needles couldn’t penetrate your skin before we utilised an aerosol based toxin to make you less… of a problem. A toxin such as the lipstick and perfume that I’m wearing, which I and my colleagues have been immunised again beforehand.”

Thor growled in the back of his throat, trying his hardest to move his arms, to bring his hands up to wrap his them around her throat. His effort only made the woman laugh, before she moved down and closer to him. 

“Even now, some of my colleagues are dealing with your brother,” she hissed at him. “To think, the great and mighty Thor, brought down by a mere lady.”

Thor’s eyes widened a little as he watched the woman’s breath fog up between them, and he gave a vicious grin as he heard the words spoken behind her.

“You are hardly a lady.”

**********

Resting his forehead against the cool glass of the window, Steve closed his eyes. No sooner had he done it though that images flashed behind his lids and his eyes snapped open even as he sucked in a deep breath, his hear hammering in his chest. He couldn’t get rid of them. The faces. The laughter. The touches. The pain. His grip on the windowsill tightened, the cracking of the wood beneath his hands not even registering. He had tolerated the doctors, but just barely, before he’d finally snapped at them to get out. They had been reluctant, but they had left. And now… Now Steve almost wished that they’d come back, if only it meant that he wasn’t alone with his own memories.

Over the past several months he’d watched as his team had grown, had come together and had become closer. It had taken him a while to realise that they had each drifted into relationships with each other. He’d been confused to begin with. Outraged on the behalf of some of them when he had thought their partners had been cheating, but once Clint had explained that none of them had been cheating and that they were actually all together, he had felt foolish. It had taken him a while to realise that they had been trying to get him into their fold, before Bucky had actually pointed out that every time Steve had bent over to look as some project or other in Tony’s workshop, the genius had seemed to leak brain cells and burn his own fingers when soldering. 

After everything that had happened to them all over the last few years, finding out that Bucky was the Winter Soldier; Ultron; Bucky finally coming to him again and evading what could have led to a possible civil war between them all. He’d thought of everything he could’ve lost and he’d decided that yes, he did want more with them. Then the mission had come up and he’d taken some of the team through the portal, not knowing what he’d find. To realise now that they’d never left Earth in the first place, he couldn’t help but feel foolish again. He’d never had the chance to tell them that he wanted to be with them for as long as they would have him. Never had the chance to let them know how nervous about it he was or that he didn’t really know what he was doing. Yes, he’d shared his first kisses with Bucky, but he’d lost him before they’d had the chance to progress in their relationship. They hadn’t really had a chance to take anything further yet.

And now… Steve shivered, wrapping his arms around his waist even as he felt the bile in the back of his throat. He swallowed hard, closing his eyes tight again, forcing himself to keep them closed despite the memories. So lost in memories was he that when a hand did clasp his shoulder, he lashed out, not even registering who it was. He barely heard the cursing; managed to shrug off the hands that tried to grab hold of his wrists; didn’t even register the sound of flesh impacting with flesh of the split of the skin on his knuckles. It was only the feeling of cool metal closing around the side of his neck that had him startle and pause. His chest heaved for breath, his heart racing a mile a minute, and his eyes were wide as he finally managed to take in the pissed, worried, confused look that Bucky was giving him.

“You with me?” Bucky demanded, giving him a slight shake when Steve only blinked at him. “Damnit Steve, are you with me?!”

All the fight rushed out of him and Steve couldn’t have stopped himself from slumping into Bucky’s arms if he’d tried. He rested his forehead on Bucky’s shoulder as the other man brought his arms around him, holding him tight. “Y-yeah… Yeah I’m with you.”

Bucky’s grip on him tightened a little, before he pulled back, gripping Steve by the shoulders and looking at him carefully. It was a look that Steve avoided by keeping his eyes down. He steeled himself when he heard Bucky call his name, and reluctantly he raised his eyes to meet Bucky’s own blue ones. 

“What happened?”

********

Bruce looked over the screens again before rubbing his eyes. He’d come straight to the lab in the New Avenger’s Facility. The medical staff had given him a wide birth. It probably had something to do with the way he’d been storming down the corridors. Since he’d entered the lab, he’d brought up all the tests that they had undergone since they’d returned. Each and every single one of the others had been tested for everything they could think of. Bruce wasn’t happy with what he’d found. Numerous drugs in people’s systems, sedatives, drugs that resulted in paralysis. He’d concluded that Clint had indeed been aware and in agony during his operation. He hadn’t been able to find much from Steve’s exams, he hadn’t let them do much before he’d dismissed the medical staff. He himself had still had some sedatives that were even now being flushed from his system.

The wound Tony had received was fully healed, and they were now just suffering from exhaustion and dehydration. It was what he had found of their newly acquired friend that they’d brought back that had Bruce bringing up a holographic image over the display table. A three dimensional image of the full scan they had performed on Alex lay above the table. A hand motion here and there had the image rotating and turning, before he enlarged the torso and head area. This… this is what had caught his attention. Right there, it the chest, lungs that were slightly too large to be human. What looked like a secondary bypass system, indicating the ability to holding oxygen in the larger lungs for longer periods of time. Not one, but two hearts, beating away steadily. 

Pulling a chair to him, Bruce sat down heavily. This… This would explain a lot. It would explain why he’d thought he had memories of her standing next to him. Of why he thought he’d seen her before, laying broken and dying on a road. Of black vans pulling up, men coming out and … Bruce’s eyes widened as he remembered the flash of a metal arm as the woman was picked up. Bucky knew her? He scowled down at his hands as they fisted in his lap. Bucky had been with those men that had taken her which meant… It hadn’t been Bucky at the time, it had been the Winter Soldier. That could only mean it had been several years ago, though he wasn’t sure exactly when.

Raising his eyes, he frowned as he thought he’s spotted something changing in the scan’s image. Leaning forwards, adjusting his glasses, Bruce gave a startled yell as he threw himself backwards, the chair toppling back with him in it. The breath was knocked out of him when he landed, but he didn’t let that stop him from scrabbling away until his back hit another desk, halting his retreat. He stared up in disbelief and shock as the… the thing… the black mass that had seemed to jump out of the image at him, retreated back into the image and looked to disperse. He knew he should be frightened of it but… Could this have been what had woken the Hulk in order for him to escape the sedation and containment unit on the helicopter that had crashed in the dessert?

He blinked, barely having time to see that the black mass was gone before he heard the crashing and shouting outside the lab, further up the corridor where the recovery rooms were. Scrabbling to his feet, he pushed the door open and skidded into the corridor, almost hitting the opposite wall before he got his feet under him properly and began running towards the commotion. The closer he got, the more he understood what he was seeing. The window of Alex’s recovery room had been shattered, the glass carpeting the floor of the corridor, the body of a man in a dark suit laying on the floor. The closer Bruce got the more he could see that the man’s neck was at an odd angle. He had to grab hold of a doorframe to bring himself to a halt just in time to avoid a second body being thrown out the doorway of the recovery room, crashing against the wall before hitting the ground unmoving. 

Hearing movement behind him, Bruce spun to see Natasha step out of Clint’s room, breathing deeply, a cut to her forehead and a bent metal medical chart in her hand. “We’ve been compromised!” she told him, even a she saw Steve and Bucky rushing into the corridor, Loki following, holding his brother up beside him. 

Before he could aske anything, Alex stepped into the corridor. The once white hospital gown she wore was torn and bloody. Her hair was wet and face painted with dark red blood on the left side. Though her left arm had what looked to be a large gash down it, causing it to bleed heavily and hang limply at her side, Bruce swallowed the bile back down when he saw the doctor hanging limply from her other hand by the collar of his blood drenched shirt, his innards trailing on the floor.


	12. Chaos and Chocolate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team realise that they may not have made the best decision bringing Alex back with them, even as Bucky struggles with his guilt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so more questions are arising as to what the team have brought back. The (.....) is the English translation of different languages, though I apologise if the Russian is not right, I used Google Translate. Feel free to leave comments but please be polite.

Realising where Bruce’s gaze had fallen, she dropped the body of the man who had harmed Tony, before taking a small step back. Her muscles tensed, eyes narrowing as she kept her sight on Bruce and Natasha behind him. 

“Alex, where’s Tony?” asked Bruce, making sure to keep his voice as calm as he could, keeping his hands down but open, hoping to look non-threatening. “Do you know? Have you seen him?”

At his questions, Alex remembered Tony, who she had pushed out of the way at some point, sending him to the ground. Her eyes flickered to the room she had just come out of, before they snapped right back when she heard Natasha take a step forwards. 

“It’s okay, it’s alright,” Bruce told her. “No one’s going to hurt you here. I just need to check on Tony. Alright? I’m just going to check on Tony, make sure he’s okay.”

She watched him for a moment, taking in deep breaths to steady herself before she stepped to the side a little, giving Bruce the room to move past her. She watched him pass her then looked back to Natasha. She heard Bruce curse, but didn’t turn away to see. She already knew what was in there, she didn’t need to look.

“You er… you have a bit of…” Natasha trailed off even as she touched the side of her own face with her free hand to indicate the blood she could see on the face of the woman in front of her. She watched as Alex lifted a hand to her left cheek, bringing the fingers away red with blood. “You know, we could get it washed off. A nice hot shower, and some food and something a little more comfortable than that gown you’re wearing. Would you like that?” she asked, giving her an encouraging smile and a small nod of her head.

Alex tilted her head to the side a little as she listened. She supposed she was hungry, though to be honest she wasn’t sure if she remembered what that was. When Natasha reached out a hand, holding it palm up, she startled a little, her eyes widening as she looked at the offered hand.

“Come on, I’ll help you pick out something warmer and dryer. We can find out what you like to eat, what your favourite foods are.”

She debated for a minute, before raising her bloodied hand and moving closer to lay her fingers into Natasha’s outstretched out. Less than an inch away from touching, it was then she spotted something in the reflection of the bent metal chart that Natasha held. Movement behind her. When she raised her gaze to the other woman, her eyes narrowed, their amber colour glittering slightly with anger.

Natasha had a second to swear before strong fingers wrapped around her wrist. She twisted, the grip slick with blood and she managed to slip free even as she dropped the chart and gripped hold of Alex’s wrist, her other hand moving to turn the woman with the intention of pinning her arm behind her. Yet even as she pushed towards the wall she found herself turned and her back crashed into the brick and plaster behind her. The breath was knocked out of her and she could hear a loud pop. For a second Natasha thought that she’d dislocated something, but when no pain followed she realised that it was Alex who had been injured. “Stop struggling!” she snapped at her, crying out when she was slammed backwards again. She managed a glance over Alex’s shoulder to see Steve and Bucky heading towards them before her feet left the ground and the world spun around her. The impact of crashing into Steve and tumbling onto the ground with him made her dizzy, groaning as pain arched across her shoulder blades.

Bucky practically jumps over the tangle of limbs that make up Natasha and Steve. Even as he does he sees Alex darting back into the recovery room before he himself comes to a stop in the doorway. He takes a quick look around, not surprised to see the damage to the room and to the equipment. He notes Bruce talking lowly to Tony who is struggling to sit up. He also notes how tense Bruce’s shoulders are. Shit, the last thing they need is the Hulk coming out to play. Looking back at Alex, he takes a step into the room, noting how she takes one back and then another for every step he takes forwards. He raises his hands even as flashes of memory come to his mind. It causes him to suck in a deep breath. “Don’t move,” he warns Bruce and Tony, though he doesn’t take his eyes off of the woman in front of him. 

“Bucky?” asked Bruce, his voice quiet and strained.

“Just don’t move,” Bucky growls in reply, even as he slowly and carefully pulls off the glove from his left hand and then his jacket. He knows when she sees his metal arm. Her eyes widen and her face pales, her breath hitching in her chest. The guilt at her reaction burns in his chest, but he knows that this is the only way to get her to stop long enough to salvage the situation. He directs his next words to her. "Этого достаточно домашнее животное!" (That is enough Pet!)

It sickens him, causing bile to rise to the back of his throat as he watches her bow her head, her knees buckling, causing her to slide down the wall she had leaned against to come to a crouch. She raised her uninjured arm over her head, trying to shield herself even as her other arm hangs limp at her side. He can see her shaking, her fear of him so bad that she wets herself where she crouches. Bucky had never wanted to put a bullet between his own eyes as badly as he did then. Taking a deep breath, he cautiously moves forwards, coming to a stop in front of her. He doesn’t dare lower himself to her level while she’s in this state. He’d seen several HYDRA scientists and guards make that mistake and lose their lives to it.

Reaching out, he places his metal hand on top of her head, feeling her flinch beneath his fingers, before he runs his metal fingers through her hair and takes a handful of it, grip firm but not painful. It is a gesture that he knows she will recognise as reassuring rather than punishing. He registers the footsteps of the others and he tightens his grip on her just slightly to keep her attention on him. “Get Tony out of here,” he ordered quietly, knowing that it is being done as he hears movement behind him. 

“Buck? What’re you doing?” come’s Steve’s voice.

Bucky takes a deep breath, trying to calm his own frayed nerves as he replied. “I’m keeping her cantered. Keeping her stable while you get some clean clothes for her and something sweet to eat.” He risks a glance over his shoulder at Steve who is in the doorway now that Bruce and Tony have gone. He spots Loki and a pale Thor behind him. “Steve, trust me, we will talk about this, but not now. She’s high on adrenalin and she’s frightened.”

“Perhaps I can help with that,” Loki told him calmly. Though he himself was still paler than normal, he held out his hands and in them appeared not only clothes, but on top of those chocolate as well. 

Bucky nodded, giving him a rueful grin, taking the bar of chocolate. Using his teeth to unwrap it, he held it close in front of her, waiting patiently. A couple of minutes of tense silence and he felt her trembling stop, letting him know it was safe to finally crouch down in front of her. He did just that, breaking a piece of chocolate off with his teeth and laying the rest behind him, before he took the small offering and held it out to her, gentling the grip he had on her hair and then releasing it to stroke over the wet tangled strands. He tensed a little when she lifted her head just enough to sneak a peek at him through her lashes and then he released a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding when she leaned forwards, taking the chocolate with her teeth straight from his hand. 

Making sure his movements were clear and telegraphed, he picked p the rest of the bar, watching as she looked from him to the chocolate. He stood and she copied. He took a few steps back and she followed. When he was close enough, he reached out and placed the bar on the clothes that Loki still held. “Take her to the nearest showers and get her cleaned up. Only give her one small piece at a time.” He risked looking at Loki and when he saw the god staring not at him but at the woman, Bucky frowned. “Loki.”

Loki’s eyes snapped to him and he gave a curt nod, before he began walking back. Bucky watched as the woman followed Loki out and once he was sure she was gone, he slumped against the ripped bed, his legs feeling like they’d turned to jelly. He’d never been so glad to see Steve come back in, his blue eyes worried and questioning. 

“Tony and Clint are safe. The paralysis is wearing off,” Steve told him. “Mind telling me what the hell just happened?”

Bucky nodded, rubbing his face with his flesh hand before taking a deep breath. 

“I will, I promise. Just… get her settled first. Give her some food, something to drink and some crayons.” When he saw Steve’s brows raise at that he could feel a slight heat to his cheeks and knew they had reddened. “Just do it Steve. I’ll explain when we’re all together.”


	13. Beneath The Surface

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers are home, on the mend and they are safe. They are safe. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for those who are taking the time to read this fiction, it's good to know it is interesting enough to be read. As always any mistakes are my own, and comments or suggestions are welcome.

Bucky sat at the large table of the facilities conference room, arms folded on top of it as he watched Alex who sat across from him. Her head was bowed, her hair curtained her face in soft waves as she concentrated on the paper in front of her, her right hand never stopping as she used the crayons. Bucky remembered seeing her pictures sometimes when they’d first found her; when the Winter Soldier had first found her. They’d made no sense to him than and still didn’t now. It was almost hard to believe that after Loki had cleaned her up, she was still the same woman who had walked out of her recovery room with a disembowelled corpse. So lost in his memories was he that he almost jumped out of his skin when a mug of hot coffee was put down in front of him. He looked up, giving Steve a nod as the other man took the seat next to him.

The others were waiting for him to speak, Bucky knew this, but he didn’t know where to start. Or how to start. Any memories of Alex belonged to the Winter Soldier. He looked at the others. Tony and Bruce were busy on Starkpads, but he knew they would be listening. Clint was still pale, but he had refused to sit this out and so was sitting next to Natasha with a hot drink of his own. Loki was sat pensively, tense and quiet, though his gaze was curious as he looked at Alex. Thor sat beside him, he himself was quiet which let Bucky know that he was waiting. Bucky knew that Sam, Wanda and Vision were also waiting, both curious as to what he had to say. He didn’t like it. Not one bit. He didn’t like being the centre of their attention, knowing that he had no good news to tell them.

“It’s alright Bucky,” Steve spoke from besides him. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Bucky took a deep breath in, then let it out, only to take another. He had to force himself to switch his mug to his right hand as he realised his left was in danger of shattering the mug.

“I don’t… It’s difficult. I didn’t know her. Winter was the one who interacted with her, who… tried to train her. Like a pet.” Bucky spat the last few words, already feeling sick with guilt. He’d thought he’d faced what he’d done as the Winter Soldier, but when he’d seen Alex the memories had bombarded him so quick he’d been unable to find enough footing to sort through them properly.

“It obviously didn’t work very well or I think we’d be dead,” Natasha told him. 

Bucky watched as Loki’s magic levitated a red crayon that had rolled out of Alex’s reach straight into the woman’s hand. He shook his head. “No, it didn’t work well at all. HYDRA lost thirty seven soldiers in the first day they had her.”

“She’s that good?” asked Natasha.

Bucky shook his head again. “No. I don’t know.” Bucky frowned as he thought back to those memories, of the first day that she’d been conscious. “It was like… Look, she was awake. That’s a definite, but… She wasn’t there. She was awake but she wasn’t aware of what she was doing.”

“A creature of instinct.” Loki’s voice when he spoke was quiet and thoughtful. “Just as she was when I found her in that horrendous water prison.”

“That’s about right,” Tony said, sitting up straighter as he brought up the security display from Alex’s recovery room as a hologram in the middle of the table. “What I did manage to see was…” Tony indicated the video feed, unable to explain it.

Bucky watched in silence as events played out. The fake doctor coming into the room, injecting Tony, ordering Alex up. He watched as one of the men cuffed Alex’s wrist and then all hell broke loose as Alex pulled him to her, jamming the heel of her free hand up into his nose. Bucky knew the blow would’ve not only broken the man’s nose but also driven the broken bone up into the man’s brain. He watched the man drop to the floor, knowing he was already dead. The second intruder lunged for her only to be twisted about and thrown into the doctor and Tony, causing Tony to be knocked to the floor. 

“Yeah… That actually hurt,” muttered Tony with a wince at the remembered pain.

The images flickered a little before showing the second suited man ramming his shoulder into Alex, pushing her backwards over the bed and pinning her down, his hands wrapped around her throat. Bucky glanced at the dark livid bruises that had formed on her neck before he returned his gaze back to the feed. 

“You know, HYDRA has spent a lot of money on you,” the doctor spoke, picking up the forgotten case that the suites had brought in. He rifled through it. “A lot of effort and time. Twenty five years to be exact.”

Bucky swallowed hard as he watched the man pull out first a syringe and then several scalpels before he carried on speaking even as Alex’s struggles against the suit throttling her had begun to weaken. “HYDRA will reap the rewards of its work and you will be returned to stasis, to be harvested whenever HYDRA needs it. In the next few months there will be enough of you to form an army and HYDRA will rise up. Pity they will also be cut down not long after, along with the rest of the humans.”

Bucky drew in a breath of shock. So this is why they had been so determined to keep her even after they had realised she couldn’t be turned like he had been. To make matters worse, it looked like HYDRA had been breached as well, though by what Bucky didn’t know. In the image, Alex was losing her fight to stay conscious, hitting weakly at the suit’s arms even as the doctor moved closer. The suit removed one hand from her neck to grip one of her flailing arms and pin it down, allowing the fake doctor to insert the needle into Alex’s arm. Bucky knew the exact moment the chemical entered her blood as he watched Alex’s entire body tense up, becoming stiff and allowing the suit to put his hand back onto her neck.

A soft wounded sound caught Bucky’s attention and he looked over at Clint, who was watching the recording with wide eyes, looking paler even though his hands had fisted on the table top. “They couldn’t put it back together properly,” he muttered. “Needed to know. Needed to know what made us tick.”

“Clint…” began Natasha, only for him to cut her off, slamming his hands down on the table and getting to his feet.

“No!” he practically snarled. “They cut me open Nat! I felt everything! They pulled bits of me out and showed them to me!” 

“Everyone just calm down,” Bucky ordered, his tone cold and fierce. “Just calm the fuck down and plant your ass Barton!”

“Enough!” Bruce shouted. 

The word alone was enough to stop both Clint and Bucky short, causing them two men to still and look at Bruce warily. Bruce leaned forwards on the table, his hands flat and palms down, but his gaze wasn’t on them, it was on the images still playing out. When Bucky looked at them, he sucked in a breath. “No…” he murmured, watching as the fake doctor proceeded to slice down the inside of Alex’s arm. 

“What the…” The fake doctor’s words were cut off when Alex’s injured arm suddenly bent at the elbow, her hand turning and gripping onto the man’s wrist. Her knee came up and Bucky could only wince in male sympathy as the suit received the blow right to his crotch, causing him to release his grip on her and stumble back, clasping himself. She twisted the doctor’s arm and Bucky hear the snap and the man cry in pain even as Alex snatched the scalpel from his now lax grip. When the suit managed to straighten the only thing he got for his effort was the sharp blade being driven into his eye. 

They watched the carnage, the savagery that took place and when it came to Alex literally ripping out the doctor’s throat with her teeth, Tony spoke up. “That’s enough,” Tony muttered, cutting the feed. He rubbed his eyes, looking at Bruce. “Show them.”

Though he looked doubtful, Bruce nodded, bringing up the scans he’d looked at. He frowned as he stared at them. “That can’t be right,” he muttered, going through all the files he had on her, the scans and results. “I don’t understand.”

“What’re we looking at Bruce?” asked Steve.

Bucky looked at the scans of a normal human female before he spoke. “Exactly the same thing HYDRA has been looking at for over two decades. It doesn’t matter how many scans you take, that’s what you’ll end up with.”

“I know what I saw,” Bruce told them. “The scans weren’t like this when I first looked at them. She… There were two hearts, larger lungs. This… It must be some sort of camouflage or something. And the black stuff…”

Bucky frowned. “Black stuff? Bruce, what black stuff?”

Bruce sighed. “I don’t even know if it will come up now,” he muttered even as he brought up the scan that had almost startled him so badly he’d almost Hulked out. He watched the picture of the normal human anatomy, and barely managed to stop himself from jumping back as the same thing happened again. Some sort of black substance shot out from the middle of the chest area in the scan before it retreated. 

Part of Bucky wanted to laugh at Stark and Clint who were picking themselves up off the floor, but he was too busy doing the same himself. Was this what HYDRA had put into her or was this what had stopped HYDRA from being able to claim Alex as another asset? He wasn’t sure, but when he turned to look at Alex, he felt every muscle in his body tense as he met her amber gaze head on. Using the table, he very carefully pushed himself to his feet, sucking in a deep breath as she stood also. He glanced at her hand, watching as the red crayon she held moved idly through her fingers back and forth. He was dimly aware of the others moving, speaking, but their voices were so distant he couldn’t focus on them. 

“Buck? Bucky?” The heavy weight of a hand on his shoulder brought his head snapping round to look at Steve. He saw the concern in the man’s blue eyes, the confusion. “Is there something we need to worry about?”

“I…” Bucky looked back at Alex, frowning when he saw that she was sat, still drawing, head bowed. He looked back at Steve. “She was standing,” he told him. “She was standing too still.”

“Bucky, she hasn’t moved from where she’s sat,” Natasha told him, concern in her own voice. Wariness too. 

When Bucky looked back to Steve, he could see the same in his eyes. “Steve, she was stood up, staring.”

Steve shook his head. “She hasn’t moved. Hasn’t stopped colouring, Buck. Maybe… maybe you just need some sleep?”

Bucky shrugged off Steve’s hand and stepped away with a scowl. “I know what I saw Steve,” he almost growled. “She’d stood up. She was staring.”

When Steve didn’t answer, Bucky turned to look at the others. He could see that they were tense, each of them watching him warily, waiting. He realised that none of them believed him and he sucked in a breath, before swearing in Russian. When he turned to leave, he felt Steve grip his arm but he shrugged him off again and stared at him.

“Bucky…” Steve tried, but Bucky shook his head.

“I’ll be in the gym,” he muttered, voice firm and bordering on cool, before he stalked out the room without looking back.

*********

Bucky didn’t know how long he’d been pounding at the large punching bag. All he knew was that his flesh arm was beginning to ache and despite the sweat dripping from his brow he was shivering. How could the others not have seen it? He’d seen it clear as day. The woman had stood up, had stared straight at him. She’d stood so still, so calmly one minute and then the next she’d been sitting again. Bucky shook his head, dispelling the images and trying to focus again on hitting the bag. With each hit that landed fragments of memories pushed forwards in his mind. Memories of medical equipment, the stench of disinfectant and infection. For a moment he half thought that it had been him that had been strapped down on the operating table, but when his memory showed his view point coming from behind monitors, he knew it hadn’t been him on the table. 

He remembered the sound of screams, of animalistic sounds that had often caused the Winter Soldier to pause and cock his head to listen. The day those sounds had stopped had been the day the Winter Soldier had been put back into cryo. That had been almost twenty-five years ago if he remembered his dates. The times he’d been brought out of cryo, before he’d been wiped and programmed for missions, Bucky could remember walking past many rooms that had held many large tubes, some with green fluid, some yellow and only a few with blue. It was with a shudder that he remembered the blue containers were the only ones with moving… things in them. 

The sound of the doors opening make his pause in his hits, before he speaks. “I’m fine Stevie, honest.”

When no reply comes, he catches the swinging bag and looks over his shoulder.

There is no one there.

Bucky can’t stop the icy shiver that runs down his spine.


End file.
